Well, here goes. Apologies for lack of updates - school takes everything outta me these days OTL

I didn't realise as I was writing this, but this is rather long, and also there's a lot of italics (sorry in advance for hurting your eyes) although I might change it back to normal font if the switch between present and past is obvious! So please tell me q.q

Also, the 'past' story will be continued in the next chapter. That being said, I think I'll have to finish this story altogether after finishing these past stories arc. Thanks for sticking with me all this time and I hope you continue to stay by me til the (fast-approaching) end! m(_ _)m

Once again, sorry for any mistakes and please do tell me so I can correct them!

Shion: Once Upon a Time

Shion sighed and rubbed a bleary eye as he bowed his inky blue head over yet another heap of paperwork which had not miraculously disappeared like it should have done. With a groan which uttered defeat, he lay his head down on the desk and buried himself amongst the sea of papers which needed to be read or signed or stamped or whatever.

Blowing a piece of paper so it flew shakily for a bit, the young Master of the Organisation pouted. Undoubtedly, his lack of energy was caused by the fact that he hadn't seen Len in absolutely ages. The boy was apparently on a school trip with the rest of his stupid friends and classmates. If he had his way, thought Shion, he would not have allowed the boy to go off to wherever the class was going. Instead, the boy would be sitting on that couch over there with an unbearably cute expression of annoyance at the fact that he wasn't allowed on the trip. Len would have ranted at Shion, but in the end, would have come over for a hug. And then...

Shion shook his head and groaned again. As if any of that was going to happen now. Especially since the boy was getting ever more rebellious. Honestly. Kids these days.

For the millionth time, Shion reminded himself how stupid he had been to sign that piece of paper which meant that poor Len had been taken from him for a whole week. It had only been two days and he felt virtually dead already. Being a legal guardian as well as the head of a dangerous Organisation was a lot more stressful than usual if the child you were legal guardian-ing was being particularly difficult. But of course, Shion didn't often tell the boy off; he didn't like snapping at the child anymore. That is, he used to always chide the boy for this and that and the child obviously got so used to it that his lectures didn't seem to work anymore. What great parenting skills huh. At least he wasn't as bad as Len's biological father... although it was pretty degrading to compare himself to that excuse of a father.

Shion heaved himself onto his feet and dragged himself to the kitchen, opening the freezer to take his pick from a selection of ice cream tubs. He didn't really care which flavour he chose. Rather, he couldn't even be bothered to check. What made enduring this loneliness worse was the fact that Len quite strictly warned Shion not to phone or try to contact him in any way. Obviously, the man had protested at this, but Len was adamant, and the latter left without further ado.

Stabbing his one litre's worth of coffee flavoured ice cream in a tub with a spoon, Shion kicked off his shoes and pulled his legs up onto the sofa he had just plonked himself down on. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a photo on the top of one of his filing cabinets, standing proudly in its simple wooden frame. Ah, it was that photo. If he'd bothered to look closer, he would have seen a picture of a younger version of himself with a scowling blond brat. Of course, there was no need to bother to look closer as Shion knew every detail of that photo off by heart, like the back of his hand.

Actually, that was a pretty rubbish saying for this case, as Shion was pretty sure he didn't know the back of his hand all that well. More correctly, he knew the photo's details like the back of Len's hand. The man laughed to himself. It was still a question he had to frequently ask himself: did he know more about the boy than the boy knew about himself? That was quite possible. He reclined on the sofa and put the tub of half eaten ice cream onto the glass coffee table. Closing his eyes, he recalled memories of the past as he took his third nap of the day.

...

"Len, behave yourself!"

"Len, how many times have I told you not to mess with that vase?"

"Don't just pick up knives from the cutlery drawer!"

"Stay still - just sit still!"

"For heaven's sake, do as I tell you...!"

The blond youngster froze in the action of picking up a gun from Shion's bottom desk drawer. With a pout and a scowl, Len glared at the man with childish blue eyes. Carefully, Shion walked towards him in the manner of someone walking towards a wild lion - slowly and quietly, hands held out to show that they were empty and to say that he meant no harm. Nonetheless, Len just stared.

Suddenly, the child pointed the firearm at the man with a blank expression.

"Haha... uhm, Len, this isn't funny... please don't point weapons at me," Shion nervously laughed.

For a second, the child did nothing, but eventually put the gun back into the drawer, murmuring, "The safety catch was on anyway."

With a sigh of relief, the inky-haired man closed the remaining distance between him and the blond in one stride. He effortlessly picked up the boy and held him in his arms, much to the latter's obvious annoyance.

"Y'know Len, it hurts everytime you aim weapons at me. It hurts here," whispered the man, pointing to the left side of his chest with a free hand.

After a while of silent contemplation, the boy angrily shook his head, sneering, "Liar. It won't hurt if you don't get injured."

"Well, you're still learning after all. I can't blame you for thinking that way."

"It's true," came the blunt reply.

"In that case, let me ask you this: what do you think is here –" Shion gestured to his chest again, "– that hurts so much?"

"Heart."

"You're pretty clever, aren't you?"

"Stuff like this is obvious," muttered the child. He buried his head into the man's chest, his small hands clenched into tight fists, refusing to let go of the shirt Shion was wearing. The man ruffled that blond mass of hair and smiled. Very soon, the child fell asleep, his breathing quiet and rhythmic, a faint smile on his features too.

Of course Shion knew that Len would react in this way. Of course the boy didn't understand what it meant if one's heart ached. After all, the poor child had been mistreated for as long as he could remember, so of course he had learnt to numb his heart to the attacks of others. The problem was that this was alright in the short term, but in the long term, it could cause other issues, one of which the boy was experiencing without knowing even now – he possessed a stone heart. He no longer knew how to feel those happy emotions which came so naturally to other children his age. Similarly, he was only able to show an expressionless face, no longer able to show others what he was feeling - if he was feeling anything at all that was.

"Good night," whispered Shion as he carried the child and settled that small figure down on the sofa. He stroked Len's pale cheek, smiling sadly to himself. What was it that had nagged at him to take in the child? Was it some mysterious fatherly instinct? Maybe it was a need to keep whatever human emotions he had in tact, before he himself became the heartless Master of such an Organisation. But either way, he seemed to feel something for the vulnerable child – he felt a need to protect Len. Was it because of his own past? Or maybe –

...

Riiing riiing.

A familiar tune woke Shion from his reminiscing. Fumbling for his phone, he finally managed to grab hold of it and he answered, clearing his throat before speaking, "Ah, hello?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end before his favourite voice came on, "...Hi."

It was only one word, but instantly recognisable. Shion smiled to himself and laughed, "Well aren't you quite the hypocrite?"

"Shut up... I got worried about you since you can't take care of yourself," Len snapped on the other end, "Just checking you're not... sick from ice cream or... something..."

"I'm fine. More importantly, how are you?" asked Shion as the boy's voice trailed off uncertainly. "You haven't gotten into trouble, have you?"

Shion tried to stay composed, but in reality, his heart had warmed up to melting point from the fact that Len had actually called him of his own accord. Was the child lonely? Shion remembered just how much Len had liked to be the centre of attention way back then. Whether it was through causing trouble or trying his best to impress, he liked to have Shion notice him. And that was possibly the reason why –

"Uh, maybe just a bit of trouble. They said you have to see the teacher when we get back."

"That's not 'a bit' of trouble!" Shion replied in a half-annoyed, half-exasperated tone. "Honestly... you should keep a low profile."

"Hey! I'm not a wanted criminal or anything," countered the blond.

Sighing, Shion tilted his head back and imagined the child's scowling face that he tended to make whenever he was upset or otherwise unhappy when insulted with jokes. The man softly said, "Of course not, Len. Either way, this is your chance to enjoy your childhood. You're only a child once in your life."

"Well if I take after you, I'll have at least another decade of being a child."

"Honestly I don't know whether to feel glad or insulted," sniffed Shion. "After all if you take after me, it means I'm like your father, right? Ah, I'm so happy~"

Since the boy didn't say anything after this, the inky haired man continued, "Hey Len, were you lonely? Is that why you've called me?"

"A-as if...!" came the stammered response. "Like I was saying... I was... uh, j-just seeing if you were... still alive..."

"Hmm...? And if I wasn't? What would little Len do then?"

The blond was silent for a while. Eventually, he mumbled, "I don't want to imagine that. If Master Shion died... I wouldn't know what to do."

"Thank you, Len," whispered the man, "That means a lot to me."

"Tch, I don't get you," the boy grumbled, frustrated. And with that, he cut off his end of the line, leaving Shion alone in his quiet office once more.

It was nice to be special, wasn't it? And he was glad that he was a special person to that child. Perhaps he was just a vague father figure, but that in itself meant a whole bunch to him. Having a young child to take care of meant he was able to keep his sanity for the past few years... and his humanity at that.

The only trouble was that Len was a high maintenance child. Whenever he was upset, he would brood for days on end, refusing to talk or even leave his room. He always wanted attention from Shion and wouldn't stop at anything to get what he wanted: if behaving well or performing exceptionally didn't work, he would resort to causing trouble. And that had unfortunately been the case with Gumi's younger sisters.

The truth was something Shion had only found out a few days after it had happened. From what he remembered, it went something like this...

...

It was dark on that rooftop. The cold wind blew, stealing the sakura petals from their flowers, leaving them to thrash in the night sky amongst the stars.

"Don't sit on the ledge, Len. What if you fall off?"

The child swung his legs over the edge like a toddler on a swing. He didn't even glance behind as Shion approached him. Those scowling blue eyes stared at the streetlamps flickering weakly down by the road. Car horns blared in the distance and bright police lights flared like a warning.

"Come on, get off the ledge."

"You want me to jump down?" came a trembling voice which was quickly swallowed by the wind.

"No. And stop being childish."

Shion was quite frustrated at that moment in time. So much had happened over the past few days and he was thoroughly exasperated. And now he had to deal with this.

"I'm not being childish," muttered the child. He curled up tighter into a ball, wrapping his arms around himself and drawing his knees up to his chin. Those small, heavy shoulders quivered and Shion could just about hear him sniffing.

"You know," ventured the man as he approached Len slowly, "Even if you cry, I'm not giving you any sympathy. You brought this upon yourself."

There was no reply but the howling of the wind. High up here on this lonely rooftop, it was abnormally dark, as if an abyss had swallowed up this space.

"Come here Len. Now."

"No," was the defiant response to the order. Orders he would usually obey without a second thought.

"Fine, have it your way." And with that, the conversation came to an abrupt end. Shion left the shivering boy alone again as he descended back down to his office.

Switching the lights on, they flickered to life, illuminating the papers and photos laid out in an organised mess on the coffee table. Shion picked up one of the picture frames and sighed. With closed eyes, he replaced the photo on the pile and sat himself down on the sofa, rubbing his temples. Len was such a problematic child. Who knew it would ever come to this?

Photos of five green-haired, grinning girls were strewn amongst the mess of the pile. Only a few days ago, they had laughed like angels, and now they were locked in an eternal sleep in coffins buried in the cold, hard ground. Why had Len done this? Shion had tried asking the night after the day it had happened, assuring the boy that he wasn't angry, but the blond had only scowled and stared back with some sort of sadness and hurt in his eyes. The man had tried gently coaxing the boy to talk for the next day or two, but eventually gave up as the child just wouldn't talk no matter what - he only stared back with an expression which seemed to say isn't it obvious?

And now they were at a stalemate. Len refused to talk even more and Shion was too annoyed to talk nicely. Although... he thought he did understand the reason, only he didn't particularly want to admit it. If the hurt in Len's eyes was anything to go by, he had done all this for attention. As twisted as it was, Len had done it solely because he was desperate for attention. And that was because Shion hadn't been paying attention to him lately; the Master of the Organisation had been too busy with Gakupo and Gumi's work and complaints about the 'blond brat'. He had even made a mental note to talk to Len about his behaviour and jeopradising the duo's missions.

Then again, thinking about it, the child had been acting strange even before the murder: he had barely smiled and always seemed to be watching Shion like an abandoned puppy and, even though the Master had not let on, he knew the child had been quietly following at a distance. At the time, Shion didn't think much of it – maybe it was just another one of his games to help entertain himself – but he couldn't have been more wrong.

Groaning, Shion flopped down to lie on his back on the sofa, staring at the light hanging from the ceiling. Why on earth had it turned out like this? It wasn't supposed to... this should never have happened.

What am I doing? raged Shion's mind, What sort of father figure am I, letting this happen? I was meant to be better than that excuse of a father; I was meant to love and care for him. This should never have needed to happen. Never.

But even so, he was still angry – angry at the boy as well as at himself. Why was the child still like this? To say the worst, his attitude seemed to have regressed...

Was it my fault after all? Shion sighed. Maybe I should've paid more attention to him... should I spoil him more?

The man blew on his fringe, sending inky blue hairs momentarily flying. He was bored, he wanted to sort out this issue but he couldn't muster the strength to do so. Running through various situations in his head, Shion tried to decide on the best course of action to deal with the problematic blond. Since such concentration and thinking was not something the young Master of the Organisation was accustomed to, he quickly fell asleep.

Knocking. A persistent pounding on the door caused Shion to jolt awake. Quickly making himself presentable, he rubbed his bleary eyes and raised his voice, "Come in."

The door flew open and a panic-stricken man in a black suit and white shirt entered the room, almost tripping over in his haste. Panting and wheezing, he straightened himself and addressed the other man, quietly saying, "The child – he's..."

"He what?" mumbled Shion. It would be a lie to say he wasn't worried or just as panicked, but he tried to keep it out of his voice. After all, it was bad enough that he'd decided to take in the blond instead of murdering him along with the rest of the orphanage he was at... and to actually see that kid as a child or to take favouritism in him... well the rest of the Organisation probably hated him for that. Shion was ostracising now – did the child actually jump? No way, right? Then, was he hurt? Did something happen to him? Regardless of how much or conversely, how little, attention Shion paid him, he still loved the child like a father and he was still worried. Maybe he himself was just a big child after all, losing his temper like that on the rooftop.

"We lost him. Apologies, sir."

Ugh. Shion groaned. And these were the so-called ice crème de la ice crème. They were barely capable of tailing a nine-year-old, even when they outnumbered him three to one. Have the standards of this Organisation fallen or what? Well, or maybe these few were just incapable.

"How the hell did you lose him?" yelled Shion, even more irritated than before. "He was on the damned rooftop, sitting on the edge with nowhere else to damn go but back where you lot were incidentally waiting!"

After the mini rant, he calmed himself and inhaled deeply, pressing against his temples again.

"The target... he got two of us with –"

Thud.

The suited man fell to the floor with a grunt, a short throwing knife protruding from his back. Blood seeped into his jacket, darkening the already dark fabric.

"That makes three," commented the Master.

"He won't die," came a weak voice from the doorway.

Shion glanced up and was taken aback slightly. It wasn't a surprise as such, but it was still... unexpected. At least this saved him from searching for the boy himself.

"Hah, I feel somewhat offended," Len sighed, feigning confidence. "Having these sorts of people to watch me feels kinda degrading."

"They try, you know. Rather, they tried. Until you... knifed them in the back?"

"Mmh... the other two weren't knifed," came the reply in a matter-of-fact tone as if it were obvious that the other two had been injured in a different way. "Although... they may require more medical attention."

Such cold and formal language; it felt strange that a boy no older than ten was using these words. This sort of speech was not the speech of children. Then again, perhaps it was better to say that Len wasn't a child. At least that was true. Undeniably so.

"Now, just because you got throwing knives for Christmas from some irresponsible woman –" (yes, you, Meiko) "– that doesn't mean you should use them. Besides I even told you not to use them."

"But I'm accurate with them. Didn't you see?" replied the child with a coldly monotone voice. His eyes seemed to be clouded, like gathering storm clouds in a blue sky.

"They're dangerous, okay?"

"Says the one with a gun in his desk drawer. Not to mention you're the Head of a killer Organisation dyed in sins."

Shion was temporarily taken aback for a second time by this description. Never before had he heard anything like it. And being told all this by Len... it was strange, because it hurt. It actually confused him too. Usually, he was used to these sorts of comments or insults, but perhaps if these things were said by someone dear to you... maybe that's why it hurt.

...

Shion rolled over on the sofa, trying to get into a more comfortable position. What had happened after that was lost in tears. Those tears flooded and washed away the little details of his memories. Not that they were that important in the first place.

Picking up his phone, the man waited, hoping vainly that Len would call him again and alleviate this solitude syndrome. He closed his eyes. It wasn't even close to second ice cream snack time. Still another two hours to go. Maybe he should do some paperwork after all... argh, as if. Someone else can stamp and sign and read over those boring, bloody papers.

Bvrrr...

Ooh, a message. Unlocking the screen, Shion ventured into his virtual mailbox, which was more important than his real one with all those piling stacks of paper.

Seeing what the message read, Shion stifled a laugh. Honestly, that child was adorable. Obviously all that worrying that Len wouldn't be as cute when he got older was for nothing.

At souvenir shop. Do you like bears?

Two things crossed the Master's mind: one was that he'd prefer ice cream, but it's the thought that counts, right? And the second thing was to tease Len just that little bit, as payback for leaving him alone in his office for so long.

Shion quickly texted a response: I prefer cats. Especially blond ones.

Naturally, it was expected that he wouldn't get another response to that. Maybe he was being too mean... nah. Shion sniffed, feeling the oncoming of a cold. Involuntarily, he sneezed and sniffed again. Was it because he ate too much ice cream? That couldn't be true... could it? As if. Maybe someone was just talking about him behind his back, somewhere in the world.

He sneezed again and sniffed for a third time. Okay, maybe it was a cold. Desperately, he hoped he was going to fully recover before having to meet Len's teacher, else it wouldn't be a great impression.

Shion trundled back over to his desk and stared determinedly at those towering mountains of paper. Fine. Challenge accepted. There was nothing better to do anyway. So, whilst wondering whether Len was doing alright or behaving himself or even just whether he'd bought anything from the souvenir shop, the young Master of the Organisation settled down to finally do some paperwork.