The sun was just beginning to rise over the West District, and Shion was up bright and early. Beside him lay the sleeping form of Nezumi,, his face obscured by messy black hair, his chest softly rising and falling in his slumber. Shion smiled and brushed the hair out of Nezumi's face before getting up and ready for the day.

It was rare for him to wake up before Nezumi, Shion thought, standing in the middle of the small room with a feeling of unfamiliarity. He looked around as if viewing the area for the first time - it was a small change in routine, but strangely, everything felt so different. While he reached for his clothes hanging from a bookshelf beside the bed, he wondered what he could do to pass the time until Nezumi awoke.

Shion absent-mindedly pulled a piece of clothing off the shelves and moved to put it on, but stopped when he realized that the shirt was not his. Both he and Nezumi usually slept in an undershirt and boxers, so both their clothes were discarded on the shelves overnight, but Shion was so used to being the last one up and having nothing but his clothes left that he just grabbed whatever. He stared at the shirt, and was about to put it back, when an idea hit him.

It was a strange, absurd, yet enticing idea. Instead of replacing Nezumi's shirt, Shion put his arms through the sleeves and pulled it down on his body. He then took Nezumi's pants and put them on, then his belt, jacket, scarf. When he had finished dressing, he spun around to face the full-length mirror behind him.

He laughed, but quickly covered his mouth when he remembered Nezumi still sleeping just a few feet away. Instead, he settled for a few silent giggles at the image he faced in the mirror. To complete the look, he took a small length of ribbon from another shelf and tied his hair back - a bit shorter than Nezumi's ponytail, but it would do.

They were a bit big on him, but overall, Shion thought he looked damn good in Nezumi's clothes.

He laughed again at the thought, but stopped immediately when he heard Nezumi groan. Shion stood stock-still and watched Nezumi roll to the other side of the bed, careful not to make the tiniest noise in fear of waking him. He didn't know how Nezumi would react to his new outfit, but he knew it would not be pleasant. Besides, Shion wasn't quite done with his fun yet.

Soon enough, Nezumi settled back down and continued the steady, shallow breathing that signified sleep. Shion giggled to himself as he carefully tiptoed out the door.

Shion was fully aware of all the wide-eyed, disbelieving stares he was receiving. He was aware, and he did not care in the least. He continued his walk through the slums of West District with a smile on his face.

Nezumi's clothes must have some supernatural power to them, he thought. They made him feel almost invincible. He had thought it would be a neat experiment to walk around and pretend to be Nezumi for the day, and he must confess, he did learn something interesting from it. Now he could understand why his partner always seemed so confident and sure of himself - it must be these clothes.

The first place he headed for was Inukashi's run-down hotel, just to see what kind of reaction she would have. The dogs had sniffed him out as soon as he stepped on the property and rushed over to his side, tails wagging in greeting. Shion kneeled down to pet them and receive their slobbery licks all over his hands and face.

"Hey, Shio-" Inukashi began to call to him in greeting, but cut herself short as he stood to meet her. "What the hell?"

"Hello, Inukashi," Shion greeted, waving to her with a sheepish smile.

A few more seconds of staring, and then Inukashi busted out in hysterical laughter.

"Oh, Jesus," she choked out through her laughs, "that is just rich! God!"

Shion joined her laughter and slowly spun around, showing off the outfit in its entirety. "How do you like it?"

She gave him a thumbs up in response, still trying to quiet down enough to form a coherent sentence. "Does the rat know you're wearing that?"

"No," Shion replied, "I took it while he was sleeping."

This earned a tremendous uproar from Inukashi. "Really, Shion, I think I was wrong about you," she said after another fit of laughter. "You have got to be the ballsiest guy I know!"

Shion chuckled, a bit nervously, as he thought again about Nezumi's possible reaction to his shenanigans. "You don't think he'll be too mad, do you?"

Inukashi strode up to him and clasped a firm hand on his shoulder. "I don't know," she confessed, still wearing an amused smile, "but best of luck to ya. And by the way, since I'm guessing you didn't come here in that get-up to wash any dogs, make sure to come back here for work once you're done playing dress-up!"

Shion opened the door very slowly, carefully, just to a crack, and tilted his head ever so slightly to peek inside. He had had his fun, and now that his "experiment" had come to an end, he was a bit wary about facing Nezumi again. He at least wanted to see what kind of a mood Nezumi was in so he could prepare himself, but as soon as he lifted his eyes to the crack, the door thrust open and he tumbled onto the floor inside.

"Where have you been?" Nezumi questioned, towering over Shion with a glare. "And what are you doing with my clothes?"

Shion scratch at the back of his head nervously as he stood up from the ground. Nezumi was still in his undershirt and boxers, and from the look on his face, Shion guessed that he had figured out where his missing clothes had went long ago.

"I'm you, Nezumi!" Shion said with an innocent smile, stretching his arms out wide to show off his outfit once more. Maybe he could pacify Nezumi by acting cute.

"No, you're not," Nezumi said flatly. Mission failed. "Did people actually see you wearing that?"

"Yes..."

Nezumi slapped a hand to his forehead and groaned.

"... But I only went to Inukashi's and back, so it wasn't a lot of people."

"You went where?" Oh, now that was unforgivable. Nezumi would be hearing about this from Inukashi for the rest of his life.

Shion was beginning to feel incredibly guilty. Nezumi was looking at him as if he had just killed Cravat or something. "It's not that bad," he tried to console the other boy. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror again, just like this morning, except this time Nezumi was standing beside him with a frustrated glare. He smiled as a warm, fond memory filled his thoughts. "I let you borrow my clothes when we were younger, remember?"

Nezumi blinked at him, a bit surprised that he had brought up such a thing. "This is completely different," he grumbled, but Shion could tell that the worst of his anger had subsided.

"I know!" Shion cried in sudden inspiration, snapping his fingers. He pointed over to the shelves where his own clothes still lay, untouched since the day prior. "Why don't you wear my clothes now? Then you could be me!"

Nezumi was incredulous. He stared at Shion.

And stared.

And stared.

"How old are you?"

"Come on, Nezumi, please?"

"No! Now give me back my clothes!"

Shion sighed, completely disappointed by his partner's lack of fun. And he thought Nezumi would look good in his clothes, too.