It was true that Squalo hadn't held his position of Vice Principal for long, but he had been there long enough to be able to recognise a troubled student when he saw one. It had been the day of the enrolment, when Belphegor had sat silently in his chair and stared out of the window as his parents complained about his academic skills in his previous schools. The blond didn't seem to be listening to them at all, almost as if he were used to hearing this kind of thing from them and already knew exactly what was to be said and just wasn't interested in hearing it again.

"I just don't understand why he can't be half as intelligent as his brother!" His mother, a woman with long, golden hair that curled at the ends, batted her eyelashes thick with mascara – an upper-class family, Squalo could see. "I mean, they're twins, for god's sake! And yet he can't do anything right! All he does is sit in his damn room all day with his bloody games! I've never seen such dismal grades in my life!"

Squalo kept his mouth shut at he glanced at the boy sitting in between his parents. He wasn't oblivious to the way the younger twitched at these words, but Bel otherwise said nothing; he just continued to stare out of the window and watch the cars pass by on the street.

"Well, is there a reason for that?" Knowing to keep himself calm with the parents, Squalo looked over the paperwork that was waiting to be filled in; he couldn't raise his voice at them or else it would only cause trouble for him and the school. "Does he study?"

The boy's father, who had dark hair and glasses, scoffed. There was an air of arrogance around him that Squalo didn't like, but the long-haired man didn't say anything; he just waited for the answer. "Study? I don't think the little shit even knows the meaning of study. Unlike Rasiel, who works so hard for his perfect marks. This thing is an embarrassment to my family; I'm ashamed to even be here with it right now as I'd much rather people not knowing my wife and I are burdened with it."

Squalo frowned. No wonder something seemed off about Bel; if he had to endure this daily… "I'm sure we can find a way to encourage him to improve his grades…"

"Can you try and fix the rest of him, too?" Again, it was the woman's disgusted tone filling the air. "There's that much wrong with him, and if I'd have known how pathetic he was going to turn out to be, I'd have aborted him."

The long-haired man bit his lip. He couldn't deny that these words angered him, but if he lost his temper, things would end badly; he would just have to complete the enrolment process in silence and hope that somewhere down the track, he would be able to do something to help his new student. "…"

"Isn't that right, honey? That depression crap is just in his head. What was the other retardation the doctor said he has?"

"I don't know; some shit that's not even real. That doctor doesn't know what they're talking about; he's just making shit up for attention. He's fucked in the head, but he's not depressed."

Squalo couldn't help but clench his hands in frustration; it sickened him to hear someone talking about their kid like this, and he would be more than happy to punch some sense into the boy's father if it wouldn't cost him his job. "…So why is Belphegor leaving his old school…?"

"Because the stupid piece of shit started a fight and got himself kicked out. He's never gotten an ass whooping as good as he got for that little stunt."

"…You are aware that I'm in a position of authority to do what I deem is best for my students, right?" Squalo wasn't stupid; he could see already that the blond was in an abusive household, and he wanted nothing more than to contact child protection here and now and report it, but he was hesitant; the last time he had tried to do the right thing by one of his students, the student hadn't been removed from their parents and the abuse had gotten worse enough for the student to commit suicide – the last thing he wanted was to remember the guilt he had felt when he had been told his student would never be attending classes again. "I do not approve at all of the way you're speaking about your kid."

"Do you really think we give a shit what you think? He's a pathetic waste of space and doesn't deserve your pity."

Squalo could feel himself losing his temper. He forced himself to remain silent and instead look over at Bel. The kid hadn't turned away from the window, and though he looked rather agitated, Squalo could sense an air of depression about the younger. It wouldn't have surprised the man if his new student was depressed, because he had been down that road himself and he could understand family could make it more of a hell than it already was.

"He can start tomorrow. I'll have everything organised by the end of today." Squalo didn't usually like his students starting so soon after enrolment; he liked to give it a few days so that everything was finalised and no one was rushing around to accommodate someone else. But after seeing the way Bel was being treated, he just wanted to get the kid away from his parents as soon as he could. He wasn't sure if he would be able to make another phone call regarding the blond's obvious mistreatment because he was still trying to recover from the feeling of guilt over having lost another student to something similar, but damnit, if he could find a way to help, he would do so.

The last of the paperwork was slid across the desk and towards Squalo. The boy's mother stood up with a glare at her son while her husband finished the conversation with the vice principal. Squalo didn't care what he was saying; he was too busy biting his tongue as he listened to the woman.

"Belphegor, get your fat, pathetic ass up from that chair! No wonder you're so fat; you can't even get up and walk for five minutes!"

Squalo clenched his hands beneath his desk; that kid was not fat. If anything, Bel could actually stand to gain a few pounds because beneath that oversized striped shirt, the boy looked to be far too skinny for his age.

When the trio left, Squalo knew he had to do something. He wouldn't dare call child protection services just yet; if they tried to investigate and couldn't find reason to remove Bel, he could have another suicide on his hands. Instead, he would have to try and gain the younger's trust and help him out of the situation in whatever way he could.

Squalo was a lot of things, but heartless, he was not.

~~XX~~

As promised, Squalo had worked hard to make sure that Bel would be ready for tomorrow morning; he wasn't going to let the kid stay with his parents for any longer than he already had to. It had been a lot of work, but in the end, it was worth it; if he could get just one of his students out of a shitty situation, he would do anything he could.

"It's not like you to want to put a student into school straight away."

Squalo glanced up at his best friend's voice. He had gone out for lunch with the older male after school, needing someone to talk to. "The brat's got a shit family. It was disgusting what they were saying about him. They said he has mental illnesses and they made out like it was a retardation or some shit. It really pissed me off…"

The blond sitting across from Squalo understood; he had known the long-haired man for over ten years, and one thing that he, and only a handful of other people, knew was that Squalo, too, had come out of an abusive family and suffered depression from it. "You should report it, Squalo; he might be physically abused, too."

Squalo fixed his friend, an older blond named Dino, with a tired look. "You think I don't want to? I do want to report it, but how do you think I feel knowing I got one of my students killed when I tried to help them? If I didn't make that report…"

Dino could see where his friend was coming from. He couldn't understand it himself, but despite how prideful the younger was, Squalo was still human, and he could feel hurt just like everyone else. He knew how shaken up the smaller male had been after the police had visited the school and told them what had happened, and the last thing he wanted was to stress his friend more. "…I really think you should make a report. I can do it for you if it'll make you feel better."

"No, because you'll feel like shit if something happens over it." Squalo shook his head. "Just let me deal with it; I want to at least find out if there'll be enough evidence to help him before I do anything. I don't want it reported and nothing being done, because it'll fall back on him. Trust me on that…"

The blond knew not to doubt the younger's words; he remembered a time when they were teenagers, and Squalo had been black and blue with bruises. Someone had reported it, and despite the evidence, his parents had convinced authorities that their son was simply being bullied at school. The next time Dino had seen him after that, it was with a broken arm and welts on his back.

Dino knew it was a delicate situation; they were required by law to report suspected abuse, but even so, when the pros and cons were weighed, what were they supposed to do? Report it, and escalate the situation when nothing is done? Or not report it, and risk losing another student?HH

"Promise me you'll report it as soon as you feel is appropriate, then." Dino picked at his takoyaki in discomfort; how sick he was feeling from the situation…

Squalo nodded. "Yeah, I'm not fuckin' stupid… I just don't want shit falling on him; he probably gets enough of it at home… Anyway, I've put him into your class, so keep an eye on him. I said before he's supposed to have mental illnesses, so watch what you're doing."

Dino nodded. He knew it wasn't his business to question what his new student suffered from, and if the other wanted him to know, he could tell Dino himself when he was ready. "What's his name?"

"Belphegor. He didn't say a word in my office; pretty quiet. I think he's been bullied at his old school, too. Don't let the other brats get into him."

The blond chuckled. "You know, you're a pretty nice guy when you're not screaming cuss words at someone. A stranger might mistake you for a gentleman one day."

"Fuck off!"

Dino laughed again. "Tsuna never believed me when I told him you're really a softie at heart; he's so scared of you, he doesn't think it's possible for you to have a nice bone in your body. Should I videotape this moment for him? Mean old Squalo looking out for his students? Then again, the whole school might think it's fake."

"You're such a fucking asshole!" Squalo didn't care for the eyes that were now fixed on him; he was embarrassed to know that the whole school had the wrong idea of him – well, it was true he'd never really shown them anything but his pissed off side, but still…! He could have his moments of kindness… "Why do I even hang out with you?! That's what you think, isn't it, you bastard?! I looked after your damn turtle for you when you were on holidays, too!"

Dino smiled brightly as he tried to stop laughing. "I was joking, Squalo. Not everyone thinks wrongly of you. They just don't know you well enough to know that you can be nice when you want to be."

Squalo sighed. He dropped his chin to his hand as he turned to look out of the window. It was true he was caring at heart, but he had been hurt a lot in his life, and it wasn't easy for him to show it; he could only seem to get angry at himself for reasons he couldn't quite comprehend, and then the anger directed onto everyone around him. It wasn't fair for anyone, he knew, but he couldn't help it; the more he tried to harness his anger and show a bit of vulnerability, the angrier he only seemed to become.

But Squalo couldn't get mad at Bel because he knew what it was like to not want to talk to anyone and instead be left alone, and he could appreciate that.