Written for Silver-eyes-hair-ties for No. 6 Secret Santa.

I had a lot of fun writing tis, so it turned out to be a lot longer than I was expecting. But please read and review!

Cross-posted on AO3.

Disclaimer: I do not own No. 6.

Shion sat back in his office chair and sighed, running a tired hand through his hair. There was only one week until Christmas Eve, and, more importantly, the Christmas Festival. As one of the committee members, he'd been handed one project after another. This was already the third year they'd held it, but this one was special to Shion. It had to be perfect.

It was the first Christmas he'd spend with Nezumi.

It didn't seem to mean much to the other man though, for instead of hanging up decorations with him, Nezumi had taken one look at the bags of garland and lights and ornaments and grabbed his jacket and stalked off into the city.

After that reaction, Shion hadn't really felt up to decorating the small house that they shared, choosing instead to box up the decorations and store them in his closet.

That had been nearly a week ago and he still hadn't brought up the festival to Nezumi. When he first proposed the idea to the committee, he'd stated that bringing back some of the traditions from before the war might be a good way to bring up the morale of the people and increase commerce for the business owners who were still struggling from the aftermath of the government falling.

But in reality, all he could think of was how Nezumi would react to the changes he was making to the once boring city.

He'd hoped he would be happy.

While he planned that first festival, Shion kept imagining the things Nezumi would say – "No, the stage should be over here, where more people can see it," or "What kind of idiot cuts down a tree for a display?" – as he created and reviewed his plans over and over again. But the Nezumi inside his head was never satisfied.

He never imagined that the real Nezumi would be so…so…

Disinterested.

All he wanted was a nice few days filled with a little bit of Christmas cheer, but instead he had a festival to plan and stress over, and a roommate who couldn't care less.

Nezumi buried his nose in his scarf and blew on his fingers as he made his way through the icy streets, a paper bag carefully balanced in his arms. It wasn't that he was unaccustomed to the cold – years of living in the West Block had made sure of that – but he would rather be inside with a bowl of soup that was hot enough to scald his tongue instead of outside risking frostbite in his fingers.

"It's all that idiot's fault," he muttered as he continued walking back to Shion's house. "If he had actually remembered to pick up groceries last night, I wouldn't have had to cross half the city just to make dinner."

The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became. He wasn't a damn housewife, after all. It shouldn't be up to him to keep the two of them fed.

Yeah, but remember what he was like when you first came back?

Nezumi shook his head to get that thought out of his head, nearly causing his bag of groceries to tip over. With a final sigh of irritation, he picked up his pace until he was outside Shion's door.

After placing the groceries on the table, Nezumi shrugged off his jacket and unwound his scarf, piling both items on a kitchen chair. If Shion had been home, Nezumi never would have gotten away with that, but at the moment he didn't really care if he got a lecture about keeping the house organized later or not.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Nezumi looked over what he'd bought. There were enough ingredients for a halfway decent meal, but with his irritation level being as high as it was, he didn't feel that Shion deserved even that.

"Macbeth soup it is, then."

As the clock on his desk neared six o'clock, Shion sighed in relief. In just a few minutes, he would be able to leave, go home to Nezumi, maybe even see if he'd watch a movie with him. Add a cup of cocoa and the night would be perfect. After fighting with some of the other members of the committee all day over whether or not to allow the sale of food items at the festival – though honestly, Shion thought they'd solved this problem a long time ago, and that it was a little late to rescind the vendors' permits – he really needed a night off.

Maybe I should see if Mom has any cherry cake left. I could use the sugar boost, and I'm sure Nezumi wouldn't turn down her sweets.

Just as he was picking up the phone to call the bakery, there was a knock on the door. With some reluctance, for he knew that nothing good could come from a visitor five minutes before he was allowed to leave, he called out for the person to enter.

"Sorry to bother you sir, but, well, one of the actresses for this year's stage production broke an ankle and won't be able to perform next week. The director was the one who called, and he said that they were already down half a cast because one sickness or another. They don't have anyone else." His assistant's hands were clasped together, as if he knew what a hassle solving this problem would be.

"I'll call the director and see if I can work something out. Thank you. You can go home. It's already six."

"Yes sir. Thank you."

A part of him hoped that the director wouldn't answer. Dealing with Nezumi on a daily basis had taught him just how demanding someone from the theater could be, especially when so close to a performance. But, if he didn't answer, then Shion would have to drag out the misery to another day.

"Hello?"

"Good evening. This is Shion from the Restructural Committee. Is this the director of the theater troupe performing at the Christmas Festival?"

"Oh, finally someone who will listen to me! I'm going to have to cancel our show. We just don't have the manpower and just earlier today our lead actress broke her ankle! We can't perform under these circumstances."

Shion dragged a hand over his face, not surprised at the director's unwillingness to give less than a stellar performance, but frustrated nonetheless. "I understand your problem sir, but please reconsider. Your troupe is the main stage event and without the play, we won't have a central event."

The director barked out a laugh. "Didn't you hear me? I don't have a cast! Without our lead, no one else will be able to perform. No one else knows her lines, and we're short a person. We don't have a single understudy left!"

Taking a breath to steady himself, Shion looked at the clock once more. A quarter after. Nezumi would be expecting him home any minute now…

"Nezumi!"

"Excuse me?"

"Look, you said you needed a lead, right?" A quiet sound of agreement came from the other side of the line. "Well, what if I could get someone for you? He already knows all the lines, and he's had plenty of experience on the stage."

"I don't think you heard me. It was my female lead we lost. I'm sure your friend is talented and all, but I don't need another actor."

"Don't worry. He was the best actress in the West Block."

His declaration was met with silence. Then, "I really don't have anything to lose at this point. If he isn't good enough, then I'm canceling our show."

Shion laughed. "Don't worry sir. You won't be disappointed."

"No. Absolutely not."

"But, Nezumi – "

"I said no. I will absolutely not take any part in your festival. Find somebody else." Nezumi kept his back turned, continuing to stir the soup he was cooking.

Shion was stressed and frustrated. He'd really thought that Nezumi would agree to take part in the play, if only to help him out and earn a little bit of money. Although he hadn't auditioned for any of the troupes after he'd returned, Shion thought that he'd enjoyed what he did before the wall fell. He certainly hadn't seemed to hate it.

"There isn't anyone else. You're the only one who can help me. It's only one day."

"And a week of rehearsals, and dealing with people who I don't know and frankly couldn't care less about. It's never just one day with you Shion. Nothing is ever easy."

"Well then, if I'm such a bother, why did you even come back? If your life was so damn easy without having to deal with me, why are you here? I was perfectly fine without you."

Nezumi slammed the spoon onto the counter, almost hard enough to snap the thin wooden object. "Sure, if that's what you call it. I remember you being half dead from starvation, and nearly dead from exhaustion."

"Oh, so now you're saying that you're the only reason I'm still alive at this point?"

Nezumi faced him at this point, his face twisted with anger, mocking Shion. "Well, you certainly weren't doing yourself any favors! At least now you come back at a reasonable time and eat at least once a day."

"And that's all thanks to you, I suppose? I'm sorry, I didn't realize that I was such a burden to you."

"You wouldn't be if you stopped trying to kill yourself by overworking every time I turned my back!"

"If I'm such a bother to you, maybe you never should have come back in the first place!"

Shion wished he could take back the words as soon as he said them, but Nezumi had already grabbed his scarf and jacket and walked out the door, leaving Shion to turn off the stove and put away the soup that he couldn't eat.

It was the first time in months that Shion slept alone.

When Nezumi returned to Shion's house early the next morning, he wasn't surprised to find that he'd already left, even though the sun hadn't even risen yet.

He's going to kill himself working so much.

When he'd first returned, it was to a man so involved in his work that he barely had time to eat, much less sleep. And when he was stressed, Nezumi knew that he went right back to those hours.

I should never have come back. This was a mistake.

Nezumi went into the bedroom that they shared to grab what little he owned, not even bothering to stop in the guest room that housed only his old piano and an unused bed. They'd both quickly realized that they slept better together.

He'd nearly cleared the room of his possessions, not really having many to take with him, when he decided to check Shion's closet. There was little that he would've stored in there since most of the space was taken up by Shion's work clothes, but he didn't want to leave anything for Shion to clean up later.

As he opened the closet door, several bags fell on top of his head, spilling Christmas decorations on the floor. A strand of garland landed on his shoulder, and a box of lights hit him on the head. A single piece of paper floated down into his hand, covered in Shion's neat handwriting.

Christmas To-Do List (With Nezumi!)

The paper was about to fall apart, as if it had been folded many times. There's no way this is from this year.

But there was one more item at the very bottom of the list, written ink fresher than the others, and he knew that Shion hadn't quite given up on his perfect Christmas.

Nezumi pulled the strand of garland off his shoulder and picked up one of the bags. Lights, ornaments, and bows filled the shopping bags, and Nezumi was reminded of a day, almost a week before, when Shion had come in, nearly collapsing under the multitude of bags he was carrying. Not wanting to deal with work-enthused Shion, he'd left as soon as he'd come home. Since he hadn't seen the bags after that, he'd assumed it was something for work he'd picked up on his way back.

Looking down once again at the paper in his hand, Nezumi shook his head, dislodging a fine shower of glitter.

That idiot.

The last place Shion wanted to be was at work, but with the festival only a handful of days away, there was no way he could take a personal day, especially since they wouldn't be having a stage play. He had yet to call the director, hoping against reason that Nezumi would miraculously return home and agree to take part in the festival.

Tap. Tap. Creak.

Shion looked over to his window, more from curiosity than any real concern of danger, despite that only someone with ill intent would enter through his fourth floor office window.

"Good morrow to you. I am Mr. Charles Dickens. And this is "A Christmas Carol"... the tale of a miserly man who comes to realize the true spirit of Christmas..." A bound script was thrown carelessly onto Shion's desk, scattering careful stacks of paperwork until they all blended into one mess of a pile, and Nezumi popped his head up over the window sill.

With a grin wider than he'd had in a while, Shion eagerly pick up A Christmas Carol and continued where Nezumi had left off. "My little "Ghost Story of Christmas" opens in London, on a cold, snowy December twenty-fourth, in the year... eighteen-forty-three..."

Snickering, Nezumi climbed the rest of the way into Shion's office, crossing the room to push the pile of papers to the floor so he could stretch out on his desk. A tiny part of Shion was irritated that he'd have to pick those up and organize them all over again, but he shoved that part aside, for he was much too happy at seeing Nezumi again to care.

"Your intonation is still terrible. I do believe you've managed to have gotten worse! I know I was gone a while, Your Majesty, but really. You couldn't crack a book or two on your own?" Nezumi reached over and snatched the script from Shion's hands. "I'm taking this back. You don't deserve to have a part in my masterpiece."

Nezumi held the script above his head, the smirk on his lips daring Shion to try and take it back. He jumped a bit to reach it, a fake pout on his lips, but Nezumi moved so it was just out of reach.

Seemingly ignoring Shion's actions, Nezumi continued to recite the lines from memory. "Once upon a time – of all the good days in the year – on Christmas Eve, old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. Ebenezer Scrooge was a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner-a hard-hearted miser. Secret and self-contained... and solitary as an oyster. A morose and lonely man who consorted with nobody but himself..."

There was a light knock on the door and a moment's pause before his assistant opened the door a crack, only to be pushed forcefully to the side. "Eve!" Nezumi stopped his recitation and looked up in shock before quickly composing his face into its usual blankness.

"Do I know you?" He sneered, not feeling like playing nice with this man who just barged into Shion's office in the middle of one of his favorite performances yet.

"Shion! You didn't tell me that you knew Eve!" The theater troupe's director's eyes were wide and his lips showed a gleeful smile. "If I'd known I would have accepted his help on the spot!"

Shion let out a light chuckle as Nezumi continued to glare at the man. "Well, I did say that he was the best actress in the West Block."

"I still don't know who you are." Pulling out his knife, Nezumi inspected it with a lack of concern that was meant to be a bit frightening. "And you forced your way into Shion's office, which I don't appreciate. Either tell me what you're doing here or get out."

Trying to hold back a grin, Shion stood a little closer to Nezumi so he could whisper in his ear. "He's the director of the troupe doing the play for the Christmas Festival. The one that you refused to take part in."

"I'll do it," Nezumi called out.

The director started clapping in excitement as Shion's eyes widened. "Oh, that's marvelous. Rehearsal starts at nine tomorrow morning – that's what I was coming to tell you Shion – and will be every day until the festival. Oh, I'm so excited. The famous Eve, in one of my productions!" He turned and walked out of the room, a slight bounce in his step.

"Are you sure about this?"

Nezumi nodded. "I don't really like that play, but it's not like it'll be terribly long anyway. And it's only one production."

Shion smiled and wrapped his arms around Nezumi, who froze at the contact. "Thank you."

After a moment, he gave Shion a light squeeze back. "You're welcome."

Act out A Christmas Carol. Check.

The visit with Nezumi had remarkably changed his mood, and despite the amount of work he still had to afterwards, he was still grinning like an idiot the whole day. Even as he walked home in the freezing cold, his nose pink and his fingers frozen, he still couldn't keep the smile off his face.

As he entered the house, he could already feel himself starting to defrost. Thank God for Nezumi and his need for warmth.

There was something off, however, and Shion couldn't quite place it.

Gingerbread. It's the scent of gingerbread.

Cautiously, he called out Nezumi's name, a little afraid of what he would find. He didn't get a response, but when he entered the kitchen, he was met with the sight of Nezumi with an apron wrapped around his waist, pulling out a baking sheet from the oven. "Oh, Shion. Sorry, I didn't hear you come in."

Shion dropped his briefcase to the floor in shock. "What are you doing?"

"Making gingerbread. I got a sudden craving for it, so I called your mom and got the recipe. I thought we could decorate it before we ate it." Nezumi took off his oven mitts, untied his apron, and turned off the oven. Looking down at the fallen briefcase, he smirked. "You know, you shouldn't just leave your things lying around. This is your house; you should make an effort to keep it clean."

Rolling his eyes, Shion reached down and picked up his briefcase. "I'm going to take a quick shower while that cools."

But opening the door to their bedroom had him running back to Nezumi to throw his arms around his neck. "Thank you thank you thank you! It's beautiful and perfect and I love it!"

Nezumi chuckled. "I called in a favor from Inukashi to get it today. I figured that we could use a tree to liven this place up for Christmas. I'm glad you like it."

"You decorated it and everything!"

"Yeah, and it took me the better part of the day. I'd wanted to decorate the rest of the house too, but didn't quite get around to it. Maybe after we make our gingerbread houses…?"

Shion's smile nearly blinded him with its intensity. "I would love that!"

Get a Christmas tree. Check.

Sprinkles littered the floor, globs of frosting stuck to the table, and Nezumi and Shion couldn't be happier. They'd fought over how to assemble it – Shion argued that they should use edible glue to make it structurally sound; Nezumi thought he was an idiot and just regular frosting would be fine – and couldn't agree on the decorations. But their final product was a good, if not somewhat leaning, replica of the house, down to the gumdrop walkway leading to the front door.

"So we can eat it now, right?"

Shion whacked Nezumi on the shoulder. "No! We worked hard on this. I'm not letting you destroy it just because you're a little hungry. Besides, haven't you eaten enough of the scraps lying around?"

Putting the back of his hand to his forehead, Nezumi pretended to faint. "Oh woe is me! Even after I slaved over a hot stove all day for him, he's forcing me to starve!"

Rolling his eyes, Shion got up and opened the fridge, pulling out leftover Macbeth soup and reheated it. "Here. Food. Eat it. And after that we can decorate, right?"

Make a gingerbread house. Check.

That night, after the house was covered in decorations – everything from lights to garland to ribbons – Nezumi and Shion collapsed onto their bed. "Thank you, Nezumi. I had a lot of fun."

Shion slowly reached out a hand to clasp Nezumi's and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Just like when we were kids, huh?" Nezumi said with a smile only the darkness could see.

"Yeah. If only we had some cherry cake and an old sweater."

"An ugly one, you mean."

"Nezumi!"

Both of them started laughing, and Shion rolled onto his side to face Nezumi, never letting go of his hand. "Really though. Thank you."

Nezumi leaned in slightly to give him a kiss on his forehead so light that Shion almost couldn't feel it. "Goodnight."

They fell asleep, facing each other with their hands entwined.

Decorate the house. Check.

The last few days before the festival were hectic for both Nezumi and Shion. Between a know-it-all cast and last minute festival plans, they barely saw each other; one would get up for work just as the other was coming home. But after the festival, everything would go back to normal.

At least, that's what Shion kept telling himself.

The night before the festival, neither of them got much sleep. Nezumi had to be at the stage by seven for one last run through and Shion had to be on the grounds by five so that the vendors could set up their stalls before the official start time.

"Sir, there was a problem with the lighting in the park. Some of the lights went out and we can't figure why."

Shion let out a breath. His entire morning had been one disaster after another, and it was nearing time for Nezumi's production. He'd planned on being there, but if this took too long…

"I'll be right there. Let me just make a quick call."

Unfortunately, it wasn't just those few strands of lights that had no power. Turned out that half the festival had no power, and Shion was the only committee member who had any idea of how it worked. By the time he'd finished, the play was already over.

He let out a sigh and raked a hand through his already messy hair when a voice startled him from his thoughts. "Well, Your Majesty, what has you so worked up?"

"Nezumi! I'm so sorry, but I kept getting pulled away to fix things and I completely missed your show!"

Nezumi snorted. "What, that third-rate production? I didn't even want to be there, and I was the lead. Trust me, you didn't miss much."

A slight pout formed on his lips. "But I haven't seen you perform in so long! I was looking forward to it."

"Well, nothing we can do about that now. The festival's almost over. Are you free now?"

Shion looked at his watch. "For about half an hour. Why?"

"Well," Nezumi started, putting his hands in his jacket pockets, "I am absolutely famished after working to the bone on that play and am going to eat. You may join me, if you wish."

His eyes lit up. "And can we check out some of the stalls too?"

"I said food, not shopping."

We couldn't watch the Christmas play together, but I hope he won't mind too much.

Ten minutes later had Nezumi and Shion walking through the main road of the festival, crepes held snugly in their hands. The crowd was starting to thin out some, and Nezumi hoped that meant Shion would be done sooner. He hated how much he worked, but also knew that Shion had a hard time delegating, even to make things quicker.

Just as Nezumi was finishing up his food and actually starting to look at the stalls, Shion assistant came running up. Stopping suddenly, the assistant doubled over and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. "I'm so glad I found you. Two of the committee members are arguing over their responsibilities again and the only one who can sort this out is you, since you know who was in charge of what."

Shion sighed and finished the last few bites of his crepe. "Sorry Nezumi, I thought I'd have a bit longer than this. I don't know how late I'll be, so go ahead on home, okay? Sorry we couldn't spend more time together."

Nezumi just shrugged in reply and sent him along. At least this way he'd have a little time to make dinner before Shion came home. "Alright, I'll see you later, then."

The sun was starting to set, and Nezumi wanted to be back at Shion's house before the temperature dropped even further. But as he was on his way back, one of the stalls caught his eye. A smile formed on his face. Perfect.

We almost visited the vendors at the Christmas Festival. I'll count it as a check.

It was late when Shion finally made it home, and all he wanted to do was curl up with Nezumi, even if he knew that the man would be less than willing to do so. When he opened the door, he was surprised to hear music coming from the guest bedroom.

Nezumi's playing? Is that a Christmas carol? And… he's singing too?

Cautiously so as not to startle him, Shion made his way to the guest bedroom and gently pushed to door open. Sitting on the piano bench was Nezumi, dressed in one of the most hideous sweaters, even by Shion's standards. Not being able to hold it back, Shion started laughing until tears started to form.

Nezumi only smirked and tossed him a wrapped box. "Merry Christmas, idiot."

He grinned and eagerly tore into the present, only to pull out an equally festive sweater."It's awful. I love it."

Nezumi shooed him off. "Go get changed. I refuse to be the only one dressed like this."

With another laugh and a giant smile, Shion ran into the bedroom to put on the best Christmas present ever.

Exchange presents and wear Christmas sweaters. Two checks in one. Nice.

After countless carols with Shion – who, Nezumi decided, should never be allowed to sing in public – Nezumi's fingers were aching and his throat was sore. "Alright. I'm done. I need some food."

Shion only laughed and begged for more. "Please, Nezumi. I never get to hear you sing, and I'm having so much fun. Just one more? I promise I won't ask again."

"Yeah, sure. That's what you said the last dozen times." Shion just laughed and shrugged lightly.

"It was worth a shot, at least."

Before Shion could actually convince him to play more, Nezumi made his way into the kitchen and pulled out a pan to heat some milk in. He was grabbing the cocoa from the shelf when Shion walked in.

"Oh, can I have some too? Hot chocolate sounds really good right now."

Idiot. There's no point in making this unless you have some too.

"Sure. And I think there's some snacks on the counter, if you could grab them."

Shion nodded and walked further into the kitchen. "Is that…?"

Nezumi nodded and pulled out a couple of forks. "Karan's homemade cherry cake."

The smile on his face was worth that extra walk in the cold to the bakery.

We didn't exactly go caroling, but I think he's happy anyway. And we got to drink hot cocoa and eat cherry cake together for the first time in years. I'm good with that. Check.

They sat on the couch beside each other, full almost to the point of bursting. "Hey, Shion?" Nezumi said in a low voice, not really wanting to disturb the other if he was already asleep, but he got a small groan in response. Taking that as a sign to continue, he turned away from Shion so he wouldn't have to see the rejection he knew was coming.

"I know that I've only been back a couple months, and we haven't really talked about the future. It wasn't ever something that I thought I had luxury of doing. But, well… Damn it, I don't know how to say this."

Shion opened his eyes and sat up, facing the other man, a teasing smirk on his face. "It's a little shocking, isn't it? The great Nezumi, at a loss for words!"

Shion's statement earned him a glare, but Nezumi let the quiet stretch on a little longer before breaking. "I got offered a permanent spot with that theater troupe," he said, instead of what he'd actually wanted to ask him.

A small, knowing smile crossed Shion's lips as he reached out a hand to grasp Nezumi's. "This is your home too, you know."

He could feel a blush on his face, and hoped that the idiot was too dense to understand what it meant. "You should choose your words more carefully, Your Majesty. You might just end up with a nest of rats in your house."

It was nearing midnight when Nezumi suddenly sat up, startling Shion out of his light sleep on the couch. "Come on. There's one more thing we have to do!" He reached down to grab Shion's hand to pull him off the couch, but he resisted.

"Can't it wait until tomorrow? I'm happy where I'm at right now. I don't wanna move."

"It'll be worth it, I promise. Just let me grab a few things first. And close your eyes. I want this to be a surprise."

He agreed, and Nezumi ran to the guest bedroom to pull out a blindfold and a box. Handing the blindfold to Shion, he told him he absolutely couldn't peek. Shion was more than a little nervous, but he trusted Nezumi. Mostly.

Grabbing their jackets, Nezumi put the box under one arm and grabbed Shion's hand to lead him outside.

By the time they made it to the park, Nezumi was freezing and sorely hoped that this was worth it. Opening the box – and still refusing to let Shion take off the blindfold – Nezumi pulled out a pair of ice skates and put them on.

The frozen pond was surrounded by white Christmas lights, giving the area enough light to see by, but not enough to ruin the romantic mood. Carefully gliding out onto the ice, Nezumi finally smiled and called out to Shion. "You can open your eyes now."

"Good, because I'm abso– Nezumi?"

"Yes?"

"Is this… is this real? You did this for me?"

He nodded and pointed to the box beside Shion. "Your pair's in there."

Go ice skating under the stars. Check.

Shion eagerly took off his shoes to put on the skates and went out to meet Nezumi on the ice. Grabbing his hand, he pushed off, Nezumi gliding beside him. "This has been the best Christmas I could have ever imagined. Thank you, Nezumi."

He smiled and held his hand a little tighter. "I would hope so. You planned it, after all."

A puzzled look crossed his face. "What do you mean? I didn't plan any of this."

Nezumi slid to a stop in the center of the pond and pulled a familiar piece of paper out of his pocket, holding it up for Shion to see. "Look familiar?"

Shion grabbed it from his hand. "My Christmas To-Do list? Where did you even find it?"

"The night after our fight, I went back to your house and started packing my things. I'm not sure if I really meant to leave or not, but, well, I found this and the Christmas decorations you bought a couple weeks ago. It made me realize how much you were looking forward to this and how insensitive I was being. I wanted to make it up to you."

Shion smiled and looked up, his red eyes shining. "I made this list during the first two years you were gone. I thought that if I made actual plans, then it would seem like you wouldn't be gone forever." He turned his head away, but Nezumi could see the tears trickling down his face. "Watching everyone with their loved ones during the rebuilding of the city was hard, but when we started planning the festival, it was even worse. I didn't know where you were, if you were safe, or even if – " Shion stopped, the words catching in his throat. "If you were ever coming back to me. The list helped keep me sane, and gave me hope that you would one day be here, spending Christmas with me. Even if you weren't here that year, you might be here the next."

A piece of him broke at Shion's words, and he pulled him into a hug. A few snowflakes started to fall for the first time that year, and Nezumi smiled. "You know, there's one more thing on that list of yours that we haven't done yet."

"What?"

Instead of speaking, Nezumi leaned down a pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.

"Merry Christmas, Shion."

Kiss under the first snow. Check.