I swear, this is gonna turn out crappy. I meant for this to be a one-shot, so when I was persuaded to continue it, I had no plans. So here we go - next installment of Innocent Until Proven Vicious! Enjoy!

"I'm back, Shion." Shion looked Nezumi up and down. Then he smiled, "I thought for sure it'd be more than just one year. Welcome back!" Nezumi grinned. Shion asked no questions about why Nezumi had to leave, or what the man had been doing all this time. He simply smiled, and let the rat back into his life.


"Ahaha, so he's back?"

"Yeah, Eve came crawling into No. 6 a few days ago."

"Let's teach him a lesson... Hey! You! You're living with Eve, right?!"

Shion glanced nervously at the men calling out. He tried to hurry, but found his way blocked. Reluctantly he answered, "N-no..."

"He is! I know where that brat lives!"

Panicked, Shion cried out, "Wait!" A hand flew out, slamming him into the ground. Shion slumped down, unconscious.

He woke up a minute later and ran, leaving behind the groceries he'd carried. Flying open the door, Shion came upon a scene with a beaten, fainted Nezumi, and the men still abusing the rat.

"Stop it."


"Nn..." Nezumi woke up to see Shion cooking. He found himself on the couch, bandaged. "Shion..? When'd you get home..?" He thought he saw the boy flinch. Surging up, ignoring his wounds, he grasped the boy's arm.

"What happened?"

Shion turned and frowned, saying, "I came home, and you were beaten up. Did someone hurt you..? Why..?" Internally breathing a sigh of relief, Nezumi leaned back and shrugged. "Lots of people have grudges against me.

The white-haired boy nodded, turning back to the soup. He refrained from flancing out the window, where lying below were two large bags, sealed tightly.

That's what happened when Neumi and Shion met up. After that, Nezumi remained ignorant of all the other times Shion saved his ass until the first chapter of this story.