The next day, Dino kept his promise and was about to take his students out to the ice skating rink. He had called his friend and asked if Bel wanted to join them, and relieved when he was told to come and pick the blond up on his way in; even if Bel had been forced to come, it was better than letting him go to a strip club where who-knows-what would happen to him. Parking his car outside his friend's home, he turned around to look at the three teenagers sitting in the back.

"Alright, guys, Bel's a little unstable, so try not to upset him." His hazel eyes flicking over the younger three, Dino knew he would have to warn them before they unintentionally set the newcomer into a frenzy. "I know sometimes he's the one trying to upset you, but don't retaliate to anything he says; walk away and come to me, alright?"

While Tsuna and Takeshi nodded at these words, willing to give the younger blond a chance to prove himself, Hayato scowled, wishing the tallest of the trio had never asked for any outsiders to come along; it should just be the four of them and no one else.

"Let's go in." Turning the car off, Dino pulled the keys from the ignition before unclipping his seatbelt, getting out to stand on solid ground. The Japanese trio soon followed suit, looking over to the house in question; unlike Dino's modest home, this house bordered on mansion.

"They must have lots of money, too," Tsuna said, his eyes flicking over the sprawling green lawns and the fountain not far from where they were standing.

Dino laughed. "Of course she does, but she wouldn't have parted with so much money to buy this herself; Mammon only lives here because it's been a family home for generations. She loves her money and won't willingly part with it, so if she tries to scam you, don't give her anything; she charges ridiculous prices just for talking to her."

"You hang out with a bunch of freaks," Hayato said, taking one last puff of his cigarette before throwing it on the ground and stomping it out with his foot. "Do you actually know anyone normal in this town?"

"Well... Not really." Rubbing the back of his head in a sheepish manner, Dino chuckled. "But you get used to all their quirks after a while."

Stepping inside the huge home, the Japanese trio couldn't help but notice that whoever lived here really did seem to love money too much; there was very little decoration around the home, no photos hanging on the walls or even plants or furniture – anything to make it homier; instead, it felt empty, as if the owner of the house only cared for buying what was needed and nothing else.

"They'll be in the living room, which is just here." Pushing open the door on his right, Dino stepped in. Looking at the indigo-haired woman sitting on the couch with a stack of papers next to her, the blond moved to take the couch across from her. "Morning, Mammon."

Nodding in acknowledgement, the woman named Mammon didn't say anything as she continued scanning the sheet in her hand.

"Mammon, these are my friends." Gesturing for the youngest three to come to his side, Dino waited until they had all made themselves comfortable before introducing them. "This is Tsuna, Hayato and Takeshi."

Taking a minute before she put her paper down on her lap, Mammon finally looked over at the trio. Her eyes were hidden behind the hood she was wearing, but her lips twitched slightly at the sight of them. "Bel is going to tear them to shreds."

"He won't if he knows I'm watching him. Besides, you know better than anyone that he needs friends – good influential friends who don't get him involved in bad things."

Mammon shrugged, knowing the blond had a point; Bel did need some good influences in his life to try and steer him back on the right path. "He's upstairs in his room. I don't know if he's ready or not."

"I'll go check on him." Standing up to go find the boy, Dino stopped as Mammon addressed him once more.

"Squalo's here as well; he was practising with his sword last time I saw him."

"Ah, thanks." Smiling at the woman, Dino ran his fingers through his hair. "I'll go see if Bel's ready and then I'll talk to him."

Standing up before the man had a chance to leave, Takeshi moved to Dino's side. "Can I see Squalo?"

"Sure." Turning around to look at the other two teenagers still seated on the couch, Dino's smile widened. "You guys wait here; I won't be long."

Takeshi was quiet as he followed his guardian from the room, climbing the stairs with a slight bounce in his steps; he had spent his night thinking about how he could help Squalo, and the only conclusion he had been able to come to was to actually get to know the long-haired man and ask how he could help.

"Does Squalo have a sword?" Looking at Dino, Takeshi wasn't daunted by this implication; instead, he found it exciting; his father also had swordsmanship skills, so it was only natural Takeshi was comfortable with this.

"Yes, he does. He leaves it with Mammon and comes here every day to practise."

"That's really cool."

"He'll be in that room over there." Pointing to the room with the door halfway open, Dino knew he didn't have to worry about leaving the two alone together; if there was one thing that had always soothed the silver-haired man, it was his sword. "You can go in and talk to him if you want; he's got his sword so he'll be in a good mood for now."

Takeshi nodded, breaking away from Dino's side in order to step through the door. His eyes widened as he watched the fluid movements the long-haired man made, having only seen such grace in his father's skills; just how passionate was the man about the art in order to have this level of expertise?

"How long have you been doing this for?" Stepping closer to the man, Takeshi finally saw a bit of life in those dark eyes; was it because of his sword, or something else?

"Pretty much my whole life." Looking over his shoulder at the younger, Squalo moved to sit down on the couch opposite him. He was a little surprised by the younger's presence, but it didn't bother him; it was… nice to have someone interested in his sword.

"My father has a katana, too; he uses a style called Shigure Syouen Ryu."

"That's not a bad technique, but I've already figured out how to beat it; I've sparred against it before when I was in Japan a few years ago for competitions." Grabbing his drink bottle, Squalo drank some water before turning back to the teenager. "You do swordplay, brat?"

"Yeah, in between baseball."

Squalo's eyes narrowed at this. Standing up, he shouted, "You can't do both! You have to focus on one! Swords are something you dedicate your whole life to! Not something to do on the sidelines!"

Unafraid of the other in this moment, Takeshi asked, "Is swordplay what's keeping you going?"

Squalo fell silent at this before he muttered, "Whether or not it is, you don't need to concern yourself over it…"

"My old man feels the same way about katana as you. You're both really passionate about it."

"…" Shaking his head, Squalo sighed; he would never be able to explain just how much his life depended on his sword, much less have a little baseball brat understand – the worst thing in the younger's life was probably worrying about when he would get his next toy, after all.

"How come you keep your sword here and not at Dino's?" Cocking his head to the side, Takeshi found this strange; wouldn't it make more sense to keep it at the blond's home instead of here? What happens if Mammon sold it?

"Because there's not enough room there to practise there, and I can't be fucked dragging it around with me everywhere." Thrusting the hilt of his blade towards the teenager, an unreadable expression flashed in the man's eyes. "Show me how good you are."

"Is it really okay for me to use your katana?" Surprised that the older male was letting him touch something the other clearly valued so much, Takeshi almost hesitated to take it; he would never forgive himself if he were to damage it in any way.

"I wouldn't have fucking given it to you if it weren't." Making himself more comfortable, Squalo shrugged. "Go show me what you can do."

Takeshi nodded, accepting the weapon. Taking it over into the middle of the room, he relaxed himself before he started swinging it, carrying out the technique his father had helped him to almost perfect. He was a little nervous, wanting to impress the man as much as possible; if swordplay meant that much to Squalo, then Takeshi knew that could be their starting point in connecting properly.

Squalo watched with a careful gaze, drinking in every flaw and precision the younger had to offer in his skills. For a teenager, the man was impressed with his technique, seeing the potential in the other and wanting to help Takeshi perfect it completely; when he was done with the kid, Takeshi would be a better swordsman than he was, Squalo would be sure of that.

"You're not bad, but you've still got a ways to go." Accepting the sword that was handed back to him, Squalo rested it by his side. "Come back here tomorrow morning; I'll get another sword for you."

Takeshi nodded, knowing instantly that that was what he wanted. "I'll be here, Squalo. I –"

Looking over to the door as it opened, Takeshi was almost a little disappointed to see Dino poking his head in; he had been getting along with Squalo so well, he might almost have gotten the man to think of him as a friend.

"Where's Bel?" Noticing that the smaller blond was still absent, Takeshi cocked his head to the side; Bel was still coming with them, right?

Dino chuckled nervously before he said in a delicate manner, "Bel… needs some privacy for a bit longer."

"Why?"

"He's jerking off again." Squalo shrugged as his friend tried to shush him, not seeing anything wrong with telling the kid what was going on; he was old enough to know what hormones did to teenagers anyway. "What? Don't shelter the fucker or he's going to grow up retarded. Bel is very hormonal; he'll work that shit out for himself soon enough – might as well get him prepared sooner than later."

"Squalo, can you…" Sighing, Dino knew it was no use; Squalo didn't believe in sugar coating things no matter who he was talking to. "Never mind… Takeshi, Bel shouldn't be much longer, so do you want to come back downstairs and we'll get some gelato while we wait?"

"Okay." Turning back to Squalo, Takeshi smiled as brightly as he could. "I'll see you tomorrow, Squalo."

Squalo didn't reply to this; he just became very interested in the hilt of his blade; it had been too long since he had gotten along with someone so calmly, and he hadn't expected for it to happen with a teenager.

Life really liked fucking him around, didn't it?

Downstairs, Takeshi sat around the table in the dining room with his two friends, waiting for Mammon and Dino to come back in with the gelato. Turning around as Tsuna spoke, his caramel eyes sparkled with kindness.

"Squalo didn't hurt you, did he?" Tsuna had clearly been worried over his friend's welfare.

"Of course not; Squalo's really nice." Wanting to believe he had seen the true side to the long-haired man, Takeshi refused to speak any differently about the other; he knew there was good and kindness in everyone, and that it just took a bit more in some people than in others to show, or even realise it. "I showed him my Shigure Syouen Ryu."

"You trusted that creep with a fucking sword?" Hayato looked horrified, his eyes wide. "He probably would have killed you with it had you pissed him off!"

"He liked me; he's not going to hurt me."

The conversation stopping as the two adults walked in with bowls of gelato in hand, Takeshi instead thanked Mammon as she handed him his. "Thank you; this looks great."

"Twenty euros." Holding her hand out expectantly, Mammon didn't move despite the blank look her guest was giving her.

"Ah, Mammon, I'll fix you up later; please don't charge the kids." Handing two more bowls to Hayato and Tsuna, Dino frowned; he was going to owe the woman a lot of money after today.

With the group eating and talking amongst themselves, none of them noticed Bel's entrance until the boy had approached Mammon's side and draped himself over her shoulders, resting his chin on her head as he frowned.

"What's wrong, Bel?" Mammon didn't move as the other leant heavily against her, used to her charge's spontaneous acts of affection; he was quite the cuddler when it came to her, despite not liking most other people coming near him at all; it seemed that the only other two he could tolerate touching him were Dino and Squalo.

"I still feel sick..." Sighing, Bel moved his head to rub his cheek against Mammon's.

"You know that's what happens after drugs; stop taking them if you don't like the after effects."

"I can't, Mammy…" His hold tightening on the woman, Bel felt a surge of panic wash through him at the idea of giving up drugs; they were his only relief, the only way he knew how to cope with what was inside him. "I can't…"

Mammon didn't reply to this, instead leaving the boy by himself. She was silent as Dino stood up and ushered the teenagers out of the dining room, and when the man farewelled her, she simply nodded at him; she hated seeing Bel like this, but she didn't know what to do; like Squalo, the boy was so dependent on drugs and alcohol, it would only make him worse to force him off everything – it could even potentially kill him if they made him go cold turkey.

Outside, Dino stopped the four teenagers. Putting his hand on Bel's shoulder, he said, "Bel, this is Hayato, Takeshi and Tsuna. I think you'll like them."

While Tsuna and Takeshi were too distracted by the sickly look on the younger blond's face to notice the other's growing smirk, Hayato sneered.

"Well, I certainly don't like him," the silver-haired male said, not afraid to offend anyone; he had a bad feeling about the newcomer, and he wasn't going to let anything happen to Tsuna because of this blond.

"Shishi~" Cocking his head to the side, Bel swallowed a wave of nausea before forcing his trademark smirk onto his face. "I like you, Hayato-kun; I've decided that you're to be my new lover. I don't mind if you want us to go slow at first; I'll settle for a good dick sucking until you're ready for me to fuck you."

No one knew what to say, all four of them absolutely shocked by what Bel had just said; even Dino, who had heard some of the crudest things ever said come out of the younger blond's mouth, stood there with his mouth gaping like a fish out of water.

It wasn't until Hayato lunged at their new companion with an angry shout did the man come to his senses and hold the silver-haired male back. "Hayato, no! That's what he wants! Ignore him!"

"I'll fucking kill him! Let go of me!" Twisting in the man's hold, Hayato was only angered further by the other's shit-eating grin widening. "I'm going to kill him!"

"Hayato! He's looking for a bite, and you're giving it to him!"

Bel opened his mouth to say something, only to stop and move to the side so that he could throw up again. Hayato stopped at this, knowing there was nothing to gain from kicking the shit out of the other if he weren't able to fight back properly; it would just make him look like a coward picking on someone in a weakened state.

Putting his hand on the other's back, Dino leant down, checking on his charge. "Are you okay, Bel? Do you want to stay home instead?"

Shaking his head, the smaller blond pushed Dino away before he wiped at his mouth and moved to get into his guardian's car. With a sigh, the young man turned back to the Japanese trio, scratching his cheek. "I'm really sorry about Bel; I didn't think he would say such things to you guys."

Hayato didn't say anything to this; he just scoffed. "Keep the fucker away from me or I'll shove dynamite down his throat…"

Dino sighed, wishing he had been able to do something to help Squalo and Bel before it got to this point – now, he knew that he probably would never be able to save them, the two already broken by their pasts.