@Weisel: Nezumi just wants to look cool and tough and didn't think about practicalities? I have no idea. THE FREAKING PANTS THOUGH. At least tuck BOTH legs in your boots, sheesh.
But you're definitely right, 16 year old is by no means your defining character for the rest of your life. (Isn't your brain still developing until your mid-20s? At least your frontal lobe? Wiki confirms wiki obviously is the source of all wisdom in the world, cough. (I had to drop out of biology, don't look at me))
@Meopat: pff, yeah, good point, Inukashi's hair is pretty darn long too. Though Inu gets a pass for mostly avoiding confrontations and just using dogs to settle arguments I suppose... STILL, that can't be handy. I don't think you can wash your hair all that often in the West Block, so chopping it off (even if you just do it by yourself) would at least be cleaner and easier to maintain. Maybe to keep warm? I have no idea.
Woops that derailed the topic a bit. But yes, Shion has to take Nezumi shopping! (Maybe get him in a suit too, or something super elaborate for on stage. Shion seemed to enjoy daydreaming about that in the manga at least...) Ah, yeah, Shion might indeed want to hide his scars as much as he can to avoid the questions... although most people will probably recognize him anyway. I wonder how much that would bug him? Or if he's taking Nezumi's comment to heart in that it's a sign he survived, just like his white hair? (He doesn't seem super inclined to dye it, but maybe that's because he knows Nezumi likes his white hair so much XD)
Oh, I really wonder how Nezumi would interact with little Shion too... Shoot, couldn't we have that as a scene in Beyond, Asano XD but yeah as a tiny baby, I kind of think Nezumi would have loudly expressed his sympathies to the kid for having to grow up with Inukashi, seems like something he'd do. Once he returns and the kid is a bit older, hmmm. Nezumi was pretty kind to Karan and Rico in the West Block, after all, or Karan wouldn't have come to his place for help. At the very least he knows their names and where they live. (And he gave the sweater to Karan in the anime, right?)
But yes, you can go lots of ways with these two. Considering canon though, I'd rather go with the fluff XD;
Oh yay I was about to post this and then I saw @Ahiku's reply XD;
@Ahiku: ah, good point. I do hope Nezumi softens up a little after returning since he could be pretty darn harsh to Shion, and if he does that to a kid, I really feel sorry for them. (E.g. Yes Nezumi, you're right in that words can't fix everything and that sometimes kind words that cut nothing are useless, but sometimes kind words can in fact do wonders.)
Nezumi as a mentor to little Shion is adorable though. It does kind of depend on how he's raised - if he hangs out with big Shion a lot, then Nezumi will see more of the kid whether he wants to or not.