Little Red Riding Hood

Levi hated doctors. He didn't know what it was about them that made him so…shifty. Perhaps it was the way they all dressed in white as if they were scared of dirt. Maybe it was because they all seemed to know everything, or at least pretend to. Or maybe it was because they had such nimble fingers, handling syringes and whatnot, and for a clumsy guy like him, he just couldn't pull off anything like that. They were everything he wasn't—pristine, wise and gifted with such dexterity. As he stood guard outside Angelo's bedroom, he was so sure that there was a particular word for what he was feeling.

He heard footsteps approaching. By the time he looked at the source of the sound, he finally remembered. Envy. Yes, that was it. And here he comes now, gleaming in his pure white suit, looking as suave as ever. Levi scowled at the man in annoyance, turning his thoughts to the God of his existence, Xanxus. I bet if Boss wore white, he'd look ten times cooler than this mosquito-wielding bastard.

"Oi, oi, don't tell me you need shots too," said Shamal as he got closer. "The kid's a special case, but my practice still hasn't changed. I refuse to treat men, especially…" The white-suited doctor looked him up and down, lip curled back in slight disgust. "…you."

Levi took the insult to heart, his face growing more sullen by the minute. "What the hell is wrong with me?" Fuming, he shook his head anyway and jerked a thumb towards the door. "Oh, forget it. He's waiting for you. Get in there, do your job, and get out."

"Don't have to tell me twice." The doctor reached for the door, but the thing swung open by itself, held back by a small hand.

An enthusiastic pair of blue eyes looked up at him, smiling. "Good morning, Doc." To the hulking mass of hair and man standing at the door way, he said, "It's alright, Uncle Levi. You can leave us now. I'm sure you've still got work to do."

He was put in such good spirits, glad to be addressed by a smaller version of the Boss in such a friendly manner, but he still didn't feel at ease leaving him with the womanizing doctor. "Call for me if you need anything," he said warily. With one last hateful glare at Shamal, the Thunder Guardian turned on his heel and left.

Shamal watched as Leviathan walked away, then turned back to the Angelo, only to find the boy looking at him reproachfully. "What?" he said indignantly. "I didn't say anything."

"I heard you earlier. You pick on him too much, Doc." Angelo sighed exasperatedly, pouting. "One of these days, Uncle Levi just might pull one of his umbrellas on you."

The two sat on the large, four-poster bed—Shamal, with some of his medical equipment sitting right next to him, and Angelo, with his beloved book that he was rarely without. The doctor had already pushed up the sleeve of his shirt so a whole arm was bare and he was now cleaning the spot where the needle was to make its mark with rubbing alcohol. Upon hearing the child's statement, he paused momentarily to raise a disbelieving eyebrow at Angelo. "And you think he can actually hurt me?"

Mira's child shrugged, looking rather unsure. Now there was a trait straight from his mother—at least that's what the Shamal guessed, anyway. Come hell or high water, Xanxus would never be seen looking indecisive. In fact, only a handful of people knew what was going on in that head of his, and even they weren't absolutely certain of anything. "I don't know," the boy replied. "Uncle Levi's strong, and I heard you are too. What do you think, though? Can he?"

Shamal resumed rubbing alcohol on his skin, the hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "You're a piece of work, kid," he said, his voice tinged with amusement.

A few minutes later, Shamal finished prepping the boy's arm for the vaccine. He then dug around his bag for the syringe, looking at Angelo from the corner of his eye the whole time. Likewise, the kid watched with the same intensity, but his blue-eyed gaze was directed towards the leather bag as if something horrifying was about to come out. The doctor smirked, drawing out the whole process, rummaging some more when he'd already gotten hold of the syringe ages ago. Finally, his hand resurfaced from the abyss of the bag and he waved the syringe in front of Angelo's nose. "And here I thought I'd lost it. Good thing it's here, huh?"

The boy's expression was anything but elated. However, there was dread, annoyance and even a touch of disappointment. "Oh, great," he deadpanned, wincing ever so slightly as Shamal made a show of taking the cover off the needle. "Can you just hurry it up already? I want to get this over with."

"Woah, patience, young grasshopper. Can't you see I'm trying to work my magic over here?" he said, smiling knowingly. "It's like trying to get a woman. You gotta work slowly, but surely."

This seemed to have piqued Angelo's interest because the boy tilted his head to the side, regarding Shamal with a look of curiosity. The doctor would have been more than happy to entertain any question he had about the opposite sex; however, there was no way he could've predicted the next thing that came out of the kid's mouth. "Is that how Dad got Mom?"

The mosquito-wielding assassin sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. At one point, he wondered about the same thing too. How did Xanxus get Mira? Lord knows that there wasn't a single inclination towards romanticism in that man. Then again, Mira was strange, too. He remembered the last time he saw her. It was time for her monthly check-up, weeks before the accident. Motherhood hadn't destroyed her one bit; if anything, her only flaw had been the burn mark on her shoulder. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why she'd want to marry the man who scarred her in the first place. Dino would've been a much better match. When he asked her about it, she only laughed and shrugged, providing no answer at all. I guess it's just something we'll never know, he thought. To Angelo, he said, "Beats me, kid. Some things in this world you just don't even question anymore."

The child seemed to accept the answer, but now his attentions have reverted back to the syringe. "Umm, Doc?"

"Yeah?" Shamal already had the needle poised to break skin, but stopped when Angelo spoke up again.

"Do I really have to do this?"

He wasn't the first child he treated. Back in the day, he treated the Gokudera siblings, Bianchi and Hayato and other children of esteemed Mafia families. One look at Angelo's face told him everything he needed to know; the boy hated getting shots and would avoid them if possible. Shamal sighed and stared at the child calculatingly. Then his gaze fell on the red leather book sitting right next to him. "Yes, Angelo, it's necessary. Look, if you just sit still for a minute, I promise it won't hurt as bad. Alright? Do that and I'll read you a story when we're done."

Angelo pondered for a moment and then nodded. It was a good enough deal. And so, bracing himself, he looked away from Shamal and screwed his eyes shut. "Okay, go. But make it quick."

The syringe had merely been a front. So was the prepping with the alcohol. While he was still talking to Angelo, Shamal had released one of his mosquitoes carrying the shot on the child, so he was as good as vaccinated. And the best part was that he didn't feel a single thing. The doctor sat there, feeling impressed with himself as he announced, "Done. See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

As if waking up from a nightmare, Angelo opened his eyes again and quickly turned to look at his arm. Inspecting a patch of flesh for any marks and finding none, he looked up at Shamal with wide-eyed wonder as if the doctor had just performed a miracle. "I didn't even feel anything…" he mused.

"Yepp." And so my job here is done. Just as he was about to leave, he felt a small hand grab onto his jacket, latching him in place. Shamal groaned, raising his head up to the ceiling as if someone would be able to hear him. "Oh, kid, what is it now?"

Blue eyes stared at him unblinkingly, demanding his attention. "You promised to read me a story when we're done. Well, we are done."

Shamal looked down at Angelo, contemplating whether to keep his word or not. Finally, after a long pause, he sat back down on the bed and grabbed the red leather book. You owe me one, Mira, he thought, flipping through the pages till he found a random story. "Alright, Little Red Riding Hood. You okay with that?"

Angelo nodded animatedly and stared down at the picture of a little girl with the bright red hood. With the silence that ensued, Shamal took that as his cue to begin. "Once upon a time, there was a little girl who was loved by everyone who met her and she was called Little Red Riding Hood because…" He gestured towards the picture in an attempt to avoid wasting breath on the obvious. "…well, you can see why. So anyway, Little Red's mom gave her a basket filled with goodies that she was to take to her grandmother who lived deep in the forest. 'Stick to the path so grandma can get her goodies', her mother said and after that, Little Red was on her way to the forest to complete her delivery."

"As soon as Little Red entered the forest, there was someone waiting for her. Someone evil and wicked, but of course she didn't know that so she wasn't afraid of him. It was the Wolf and he asked her a bunch of question. Now, Angelo, this is why you don't talk to strangers."

"Strangers come up to me all the time. But don't worry, Uncle Levi said he'd destroy them for me. Which was better than Uncle Bel's suggestion," he said, matter-of-factly.

Shamal could only imagine what the crazy prince would say to a child, but he asked anyway. "And what exactly did Uncle Bel have to say on the matter?"

"Just kill them." Ignoring the bemused expression on the doctor's face, Angelo nudged him to continue on with the story. "So what did kind of questions did the Wolf ask Little Red?"

Shamal cringed at the idea of a blood-spattered Angelo, eliminating whoever stood in his way. Looking at the child, the idea seemed a little too far-fetched, but then again, nothing was impossible under the tutelage of Varia. "Try not to be the cause of any funeral before you hit puberty, kid. Knocking them out would work just fine." He cleared his throat and focused on the story, trying to get some sanity back in the room. "Okay, so the Wolf came up to Little Red in the forest, right? Well, he asked her a bunch of question, like what she was carrying, who she was carrying them for, and where she was going. Little Red, not knowing about the Wolf's wickedness, answered honestly. But the Wolf had an ulterior motive. You know what that means, right?"

Angelo nodded. "It means they have their own agenda. Uncle Mammon said things like that happen when people don't get paid well."

What the hell are they teaching you here? The doctor wondered. He could only sigh and hope that the kid won't take any of uncles' teachings to heart. Otherwise, they could have a future pain-in-the-ass brewing in their hands. "No, the Wolf was just hungry. Okay? Don't be greedy like that floating baby. So anyway, the Wolf told Little Red about a field of flowers somewhere in the forest, and if she'd just get off her path for a bit, then she can get them for her grandma. Always eager to please, Little Red did as the Wolf told her to do. That's when he went straight for Grandma's house, ate her up and took her place, waiting for Little Red to come through the door any minute now."

Angelo wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Ew. He ate an old lady. That's like eating beef jerky, isn't it?"

For some reason, he thought he sounded more and more like his mother with each passing day. Strange, considering how the boy had the makings to be a mini carbon-copy of Xanxus, but with blue eyes. Putting those thoughts aside, Shamal continued on with the fairytale. "So the Wolf waited on Little Red's grandma's bed until she arrived. Little Red, on the other hand, felt scared for some reason, which was strange since she loved being in Grandma's house. Nevertheless, she sat at beside grandma's bed…and that's when she noticed. 'Oh, grandmother, what big ears you have!' – 'All the better to hear you with.' – 'Oh, grandmother, what big eyes you have!' – 'All the better to see you with.' – 'Oh, grandmother, what big hands you have!' – 'All the better to hold you with.' – 'Oh, grandmother, what a horribly big mouth you have!' – 'All the better to eat you with!'"

For that single dialogue in the story, Shamal indulged the boy, speaking in two different voices to indicate Little Red and the Wolf. He'd never been much of a storyteller to kids, but Angelo seemed to enjoy it. Giggling, he said, "You sound insane. Uncle Levi might actually think there's someone else in here."

Sure enough, there was a knock at the door, followed by a frantic need for confirmation that could only belong to one person. "Young master? Are you alright in there?" said Levi, his voice muffled. "I heard voices!"

Both Shamal and Angelo looked back at the door and then to each other, hands clamped over their mouths to hush the sound of laughter. "I think he might break the door down this time," Angelo whispered conspiratorially. "Can we hurry this up? I still want to get to the ending."

The doctor nodded, smiling in delight as he found an ally in the child to pick on the lumbering Varia Thunder Guardian. "So after Little Red and her Grandma got eaten, the Wolf took a nap. He was snoring so loudly that he attracted the attention of a passing huntsman who then got curious and entered the house. See, he'd been hunting the Wolf for a long time now, and seeing him on that bed, he knew he'd already eaten Grandma. So the huntsman took out a pair of scissors and, in an attempt to save her, cut open the Wolf's belly. Out of it came Little Red and Grandma, both alive! Luckily, the Wolf remained asleep and so all three of them—Grandma, Little Red and the Huntsman—put stones in his stomach and sewed him back up. Then the Wolf woke up, tried to run away and—"

A loud bang came from the door, followed by the sight of Levi crashing through and landing right on top of a door completely ripped off its hinges. Angelo, who was actually startled by such the sudden appearance, could only look at him with wide eyes. "Young master, I—"

Clumsy to the very end, he thought, smirking as he did so. "And there's your Wolf," said Shamal with such finality and a gesture of finesse that the child only grinned up at him. "I think you know how that one ended." Ruffling the kid's hair one last time, Shamal was ready to take his leave, but not before stepping over sprawled-out Levi. "Till next time, kid," he said, raising his hand goodbye.

"Bye, Doc!"

Back in his own home, Shamal stared at the results of a check-up that had taken place two years ago. The last time he saw Mira. Prior to that, he'd advised her to take it easy and try not to strain herself. It wasn't that she was sick, but rather, she carried precious cargo with her. Or rather, within her.

She told him that Xanxus doesn't know and that she was going to wait till she was actually showing to tell him about it. Find the right time to drop the bomb, she said. Shamal remembered telling her that it probably won't happen until she was well into the second trimester considering her physique. Between the two of them, no one else really knew about it. And he never told anyone, even after the accident.

Shamal's gut feeling leaned towards the idea of a baby girl. He thought having a daughter would suit her. That little girl would've been loved by everyone, maybe even her temperamental father. Angelo would've been a great big brother. Maybe Mira would've even let him treat her daughter and he would get to watch her grow up into a lovely young lady…

Well, I guess we'll never know now, will we?

Can you imagine Xanxus with a daughter? O.o