A/N: When Davey first watched No.6, it was all alone on Christmas Eve. She'd seen Jana's gifs of it on the tumblz so the first episode was a series of "Oh, that's cute, she giffed that. Yes, they are in love, it's precious because they're twelve." Then Davey moved on to the second episode. "Who is this brown-haired loser? Where'd Nezumi go? Karan's still living with them whaaaat?" In a haze of trying to figure out where the last four years went, Davey imagined that Shion and Nezumi were living together in Karan's bakery, on the run from The Law or some shit. This was slowly and painfully disproved. "Nezumi didn't even call for four years? He's a terrible boyfriend, Shion, dump his sweet ass!"

Anyway, Davey's feels aside, this is basically what Davey and Jana think would have happened if Nezumi had popped up repeatedly over that four-year timespan. Alternately, it's Davey (and Jana?) reliving childhood as a pair of twelve-year-old boys.

(Side note: this semi-AU is based off the No.6 anime, not the manga or novels)

Nezumi is curled up on Shion's sweater-vest when Shion rolls over and looks around. Nezumi is awake but still tucked in a ball. He doesn't move unless he has to, Shion knows that now. Nezumi likes being asleep.

"What are you doing over there?" Shion asks around an enormous yawn. The sounds he makes are mostly vowels. "I told you you can sleep on my mattress if you want. You did it the first time. I don't mind."

Nezumi sits up and stretches like a cat. "I mind. You kick."

"Really? I'm sorry—"

"And your new bed's so much smaller than your old one," Nezumi says, ignoring the fact that it was his fault Shion and Karan were forced out of that particular home.

Shion grins behind his hand at that little oversight, then rolls himself off his mattress. Sleeping on the floor is supposed to be bad for him, but Shion likes how close he is to the ground. "Get off my sweater, Nezumi," he says, pushing at the other boy. "It's going to be all wrinkly now."

"Oh nooooo," Nezumi whines, pulling a face of mock horror. "You'll look dirty for that shitty school you go to!"

"Language," sighs Shion, shaking out his sweater vest. "It's not a bad school." He starts pulling off his pajamas.

"You're too smart for it, though. And I know that the other kids know it. And I know what that means." Nezumi looks pointedly at a fading bruise on Shon's ribs, then frowns at what look like fingermarks on Shion's upper arm. "Are those new?"

"What time did you get in last night?" Shion changes the subject as he pulls on his shirt. Nezumi can't go to school with him, Safu hasn't even tried to contact him, the other kids at school dislike him aggressively, and dwelling on any of these facts makes his stomach hurt.

Nezumi shrugs. "I dunno. Around one, maybe two."

"That's really late! Where were you? You haven't been around for a few days."

"I had shit to do."

"Language."

"Shut up."

"That's also bad language."

"Christ, will you shut up already?" Nezumi's smirking though.

"I have to put on new pants," Shion tells him, "turn around."

Nezumi spins to face the other way, his shaggy hair swinging. "Can I use your sink?"

"Um, sure. Just be quick." Shion sits down on his bed and pulls out one of the books on botany he checked out of the public library. He starts reading through the Latin names, trying to figure out what the word roots mean based on what he knows about the trees. It's his favorite game at the moment. Nezumi snickers at him every time he does it, but right now he's washing himself in the sink. Shion has to stay down here in case Karan starts wondering why someone is running the water in the laundry room.

Nezumi comes out only a few minutes later, face no longer dirt-stained and hair no longer greasy. "Thanks."

"Sure." Shion ducks into the bathroom, gets his hair wet, then steps out. "I'll tell Mom I'm extra-hungry because I have a test today and I need to study in my room."

Nezumi smiles. "Is she making pancakes?"

"It's breakfast muffins that are too ugly to sell and you know it," Shion says, pushing his wet hair out of his eyes. "I'll be right back."

Nezumi's asleep again by the time Shion gets back with four muffins, a fried egg, and orange juice. This time he's sleeping in Shion's bed, getting the pillow wet with his hair. Shion puts everything on the floor, eats one muffin while playing the Latin game again, then packs his backpack and leaves quietly, shutting the door tightly behind him. He stops right outside the door. Shion sleeps in the bakery storeroom. His mother might need to get something out of there today. He tries to think of what she would need. Flour? She's always running low on that. Shion ducks back in and drags a bag of flour behind him, gasping at how heavy it is, then leaves it at the top of the stairs.

"Are you going to school now, Shion?" his mother calls from the front room. He can see that she's serving a few of his classmates last-minute scones. They've spotted him and are starting to smirk.

"Yeah!" he says. "I'll see you tonight!"

"Come in here!" she says before he can escape. He sighs, then ducks into the front room, smiling. She smiles back, then kisses his forehead. His classmates titter. Shion tries very hard not to blush as he flees for school. He knows he can't run from them forever, but that doesn't stop him from trying to get away.

::

Shion shows up back home with footprints on his backpack but no visible marks on his person, so at least Karan doesn't ask awkward questions. He tells her school went well and that he has a lot of homework to do. As he ducks into his room, he notices the bag of flour he brought up was opened. Good thing he thought to do that before he left.

He's still congratulating himself when he opens the door to his room and finds that he is now the proud owner of a bunk bed. He stares. His mattress is on the top, worn sheets tucked in neatly, and there's a brand new mattress (new to him at least) on the bottom bunk, also made up in his mother's distinctively clean-cut way.

"Oh," Shion says, but then doesn't say anything else because all the words that he wants to say he learned from Nezumi and are not nice words.

He was an idiot to think he could keep a secret like Nezumi from Karan.

But…

As he thinks about it more, Shion realizes that this doesn't mean Nezumi can't stay. She bought him a bunk bed. That means she wants Shion to have Nezumi stay over. Maybe she doesn't even know about Nezumi at all. Maybe she thinks he has friends and they want to have a sleepover.

Maybe.

Probably not.

Shion plops his bag down, dusts it off a little so the footprints aren't so obvious, then darts back upstairs. "Wow, Mom! A bunk bed! Wow! Thank you!"

Karan smiles down at him, eyes crinkled with delight. "Of course, Shion! You're growing up now, you need a better bed than the one you had. I hope you like it!" She kisses his forehead and he hugs her tightly before running back downstairs. He stares at his bed and then cautiously climbs to the top bunk. It's a strange view and it proves again that his room is much, much smaller than the one he had when he was on the intellectual fast track of No. 6. Shion scrambles down and sits on the floor to do his homework. The bed looms. Shion looks up at it from time to time, unable to ignore it.

When Shion comes back down the stairs after dinner, Nezumi's climbing in the window. He looks up when he hears Shion open the door, then freezes. His eyes glide over the bunk bed. "What the fuck is this."

"Language, and I don't know!" Shion hisses, shutting his door behind him. "I came home and there were bunk beds! Aren't they great?" He smiles at his top bunk. "Now you can stay over all the time! Do you think Mom knows about you?"

Nezumi waves an arm at the beds. "I think it's fairly obvious, you airhead!" Nezumi growls like a dog, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. "I didn't ask her for anything!"

Shion sighs, deflating. "I know."

"I don't ask you for anything either!"

"I know that."

"I don't need you people," Nezumi snaps, suddenly moving back towards the window. "I don't need your fucking charity." He hops up on a few stacked crates that Shion dragged over to make it easier for him to reach.

"Wait!" Shion says, lurching forward. A bruise on his hip twinges enough to make him stagger, but he manages to grab Nezumi's arm before the boy can escape.

Shion should expect this by now. Nezumi pitches him onto the bed, making it skid a few screaming inches. Shion blinks up at the slats of the bed above him for a second, disoriented. By the time he sits up, Nezumi is gone.

::

Shion stares at the ceiling, only a few feet from his head. He can't see it in the dark but he knows it's there. He feels too tall. He hasn't slept well in a week, and it's not even the bed's fault. The room is small without Nezumi.

It doesn't make sense, he knows that, but Nezumi gives him a feeling of space. He felt claustrophobic when he was learning things at the big fancy school in the center of No. 6 and winning awards for how smart he was. Now that he's living in a cramped bakery with his mother and going to, yes, a shitty school (it doesn't count if the swear is only in his head), he feels free. Nezumi did this for him. And now maybe he's gone forever.

The window squeaks a little; that's the only warning Shion has. He looks around, then feels someone swing into the bed next to him, chilly hands shoving him against the railing of his bed. "Ow! Nezumi?"

"Duh."

"You were gone a whole week this time!"

"Yeah yeah yeah."

"Where were you?"

"Around."

Shion frowns. "Are you okay?"

"Never better." There is a pause that Shion decides not to fill. Nezumi is radiating cold. It's winter now. November. Over two months since they first met. After a moment, Nezumi lets out a small sigh that Shion now recognizes as a signal that Nezumi is asleep. Shion shifts slightly under his blankets and knees Nezumi awake.

"Hmwah?"

"You have your own bed now," Shion points out. "You don't have to sleep on my little mattress anymore."

"S'fine for now," Nezumi mutters. He sighs again and this time Shion lets him sleep.

THE END