This is a long chapter and mostly in Fran's point of view. It introduces a bit more of the characters, adds some development and kick-starts the plot towards the end.

Fran awoke the next morning to someone knocking on the closed bedroom door. His eyes opened slowly, having almost forgotten where he was, before he wondered if he should get up and answer the door; would his meant-to-be roommate appreciate it?

The boy's unspoken question was soon answered by Bel groaning loudly before shouting out, "Get lost, peasant!"

The reply slipped through the door in a soft, calm voice, almost as if they weren't fazed by Bel in the least. "If you do not get up, you and Fran are going to miss out on breakfast and games."

Games? Fran thought. The other orphanages never played games. We were lucky if we even got attention paid to us...

The blond growled as he rolled onto his side and stared at the door. "The only game the prince wants to play is target practise with you as the target, Mukuro."

Mukuro? Fran knew he had heard that name before. ...I think that's one of the kids I was eating breakfast with. I think he was sitting with a girl named Chrome...

"Kufufu~" The door opened, revealing the same blue-haired male Fran had first met. His hair was spiked at the back, reminding the teal-haired kid of a pineapple. He wore a mist-patterned shirt with a green jacket, and his jeans were a dark blue. His heterochromatic eyes shifted between the two occupants of the room. "Have it your way, Belphegor. Are you going to join us, little one?"

Fran shivered under the taller male's gaze; Mukuro was a frightening enough person as it was, and those eyes made him more uneasy than he should have been; there was just something about having a mismatched set of eyes focused so intently on him that didn't sit right with him.

The kid nodded just to get the blue-haired male away from him; he had no intention of joining the 'game' because he didn't trust anyone to not hurt him. Instead, he would much rather try and find another secluded to place like he had the day previously and let the others wander the place in search f of him. He didn't care what they would do to him if they found him; at least he would have that seclusion for a while...

"When you are ready, meet us outside." Mukuro offered a small smile before he stepped back out into the corridor and closed the bedroom door. Fran cocked his head to the side as he looked behind him and found that Bel was curled up with his blankets around him like a cocoon, hinting that he wasn't about to get up any time soon.

With a sigh, Fran got to his feet and left the room slowly. He wasn't exactly sure of where he was going; just that he didn't want to stay in Bel's room any longer. The upstairs floorboards groaned under his steps, making Fran wonder just how old this place was; it honestly held that atmosphere that abandoned places tended to give.

When the boy descended the staircase to the first floor, he came to the hallway that led from the front door to the living area. He couldn't sense anyone else about, so he figured he would hide out in the living room corner again; if he was lucky, no one would come in like last night.

For a bit over ten minutes, Fran had been alone, but when he heard the front door open and an unfamiliar voice call out for him, he couldn't help but wince; did that mean someone was going to come looking for him? What if they found his hiding spot? Would they look there every time if he was found? What if he couldn't find another hiding spot?

"Darling, you almost got left behind."

Fran sighed inwardly as a large shadow fell over him; so much for hiding away. He looked up to see who was blocking the light, and he was rather surprised to see a strange looking man. The man's hair was brown with a part of green on one side. He wore sunglasses that blocked his eyes from view, and the trench coat he had on was layered with orange fur around the hood. Fran didn't know what to make of the other because he had never seen such an odd-looking person before.

Teal eyes stared blankly at the man before Fran spoke in his emotionless tone. He was unable to recall a name for the other, so he addressed the older male by the first thing to come to his head. "Hello, perverted peacock drag queen."

The 'peacock' opened his mouth in surprise as he raised his hands to grasp at his cheeks. "Dear, please do not call me such things! My name is Lussuria and I'm the cook here!"

Fran's body quivered slightly before he pulled away when Lussuria came closer, not wanting the other to be so close to him; having been raised in a home with parents far too unfit to have even had a child, Fran had learnt to fear his personal space being intruded upon – the only emotion he seemed capable of feeling.

Lussuria, as much as he wanted to, knew better than to engulf this little boy in a tight hug; though no personal details had been given to him by Xanxus or Squalo, he knew Fran had come out of a very bad home, only to be bounced around orphanages that didn't know how to handle him. It was a shame, but it seemed to be the same for most of the kids here, as sad as it was.

It was one of the reasons Lussuria loved being with the Varia House; they were willing to take in damaged children in hopes of rehabilitating them to live normal lives when no one else wanted them. Nothing made him happier than seeing their children coming far enough to finally be adopted by someone who wanted them – but nine times out of ten, their kids stayed with them until they were adults. Sadly, Fran was by far one of the best-behaved kids that had been in through this door and, out of all of the orphans here, was probably the only one likely to be adopted.

"Sweetie, I'm going to go make sure Bel is up and ready, so please go outside and find a seat on the bus," Lussuria said gently. He offered a smile to Fran before he moved to hurry up the stairs; they should have already left by now, but as usual, Bel hadn't gotten out of bed despite it being ten-thirty already.

Fran couldn't help but wonder why getting on a bus was necessary; he was quite happy staying where he was. He was unsure of whether he could get away with hiding somewhere else in the house, but he quickly decided against it; these people were strangers, and just because they hadn't hurt him yet didn't mean they wouldn't if given the chance. He was cautious as he got to his feet and made his way over to the front door; if he truly felt anything other than the anxiety he usually felt, he didn't know how to show it.

The front door squeaked loudly as he opened it and, for the first time since his arrival, he took notice of his surroundings; there were other houses along this street, but the closest ones looked vacant, almost as if no one wanted to live next door to the orphanage. He didn't know how he felt about that; he knew that it meant no one wanted to be near them, but at the same time, he wasn't sure if he were capable of caring. The front lawn was neatly trimmed and the flowerbed that lay against the white weatherboard wall flourished. The steps leading down from the veranda were cement and lead on to the walkway in the middle of the lawn, heading out to the mailbox at the end. There were shutters on the windows and, all-in-all, the house gave that feel as if it had seen better days.

There was a minibus parked in the driveway by the side of the house with a few other cars surrounding it, and Fran could see Xanxus sitting in the driver's seat with Squalo as his passenger. As far as Fran could tell, all the kids who lived in the home were seated on the bus.

Fran had to muster all the strength he had to make his way to the bus. He ignored the glares the two adults gave him for making them all wait and instead went to find a seat where he could be by himself. The bus was only small, so the best he could do was sit in empty seats behind two rowdy boys, one with silver hair and the other he recognised to be the same grey-haired teen from breakfast yesterday – Ryohei, if he recalled correctly.

Fran didn't pay any attention to the people around him; he put his chin into his hand as he stared out of the window. He was vaguely aware of Bel getting onto the bus as well, kicking up a fuss as he cussed Lussuria out for making him go, but the blond took his own seat on the other side of the bus.

"You brats had better have your fucking seatbelts on!" Squalo's voice echoed through the confined area, and Fran sighed as he felt a headache coming on. He hated to feel the bus reversing out of the driveway, but he knew there was nothing he could do; perhaps if he just sat there quietly, he would be left alone.

"…And so Sawada came out to watch me because Squalo and Lussuria couldn't make it, and he –"

"What?! Tenth went somewhere without me?! Why didn't he bring me?!"

Fran let his eyes wander to the two teens in front of him. He honestly wasn't sure if he were curious or annoyed by their conversation; maybe a bit of both? He didn't know; he had never really been in a situation like this before.

"Sawada said you had a test at school and he didn't want you to miss it. You know who he brought with him, though?"

"Who?"

Ryohei's voice lowered into a disgusted tone. "Belphegor…"

From where the older two had their heads turned to speak to each other, Fran could see the silver-haired male's face turn into a grimace. "Eww… Why bring… that…?"

Fran watched as the two turned their heads to stare at Bel. It didn't take Bel long to notice the looks, and he bristled before yelling, "Stop staring at me! I hate you!"

"Belphegor!"

Fran instinctively tensed at Squalo's shout. He looked away when he saw the man was stomping down to the back of the bus, and all he could think about was that the blond boy was going to get hurt – but to his honest surprise, that wasn't the case; Squalo sat down next to Bel and spoke in a voice so quiet, the teal-haired male couldn't hear what was being said. Bel mumbled something inaudible back as he looked at his lap and gripped his pant legs tightly. He held a sad expression on his face that Fran was all too familiar with, but then something happened that he didn't understand; why was Squalo putting his arm around Bel's shoulders? What did that mean?

The strange act between the two only lasted for a minute or so before Squalo patted Bel's head and stood up again to go back to the front of the bus. Fran watched the blond, finding him curled up on his seat looking so sad.

The teal-haired male's attention soon went back to his window, and he drifted off into his own little world, unaware that the bus had finally reached its destination until he felt it stop and turn off. He blinked to clear his mind before he looked to see where they were, and he found them at what looked to be a very large open space with lots of trees behind it. He didn't care much for the open space; he wanted to go and explore all those trees and see where they led him.

The bus emptied quickly of its passengers, and by now Ryohei and the silver-haired male were shouting at each other and had to be pulled away from each other by Xanxus and Squalo. As they were being spoken to for their behaviour, Fran could make out the silver-haired male's name to be Hayato.

While everyone stood by the bus so that Squalo could organise them all, two more cars pulled up beside them. Fran found that Tsuna was driving one of the cars with a dark-haired male Fran hadn't seen before with him. The second one to arrive had red and blue lights on the roof and painting all over the body, and Fran didn't recognise either of the people in it.

Fran unconsciously stepped away as the newcomers approached their group; he was overwhelmed by so many unexpected people, and all he wanted to do was run and hide; it was hard enough for him to be around all of the other orphans and the adults in charge of them, let alone even more people adding to the fray… He was reassured only by the fact that he could see Xanxus and Squalo talking to them, so it reassured him that at least those two knew who they were; they hadn't hurt him as of yet, so perhaps they wouldn't let these people hurt him, either – or was that just wishful thinking? He didn't even know anymore...

"Tenth!"

Fran blinked as Hayato ran to Tsuna's side with his mouth twisted into a huge smile. His hands were clasped together as if he were honoured to be so close to the brunet, and Fran didn't get why that was; why would the other be so excited that someone else was here?

"Tenth! You came!"

Tsuna smiled as greeted the boy. "Hello, Gokudera-kun."

"Yo!"

Hayato's happy expression was soon replaced by a scowl as he glared at the dark-haired male who had arrived with Tsuna. He moved forward and shoved said man away from the brunet as he growled, "You're too close to the Tenth! Back off!"

The man laughed heartily as he ruffled silver-hair, and his happy smile showed no sign of offense to Hayato's words; it was almost as if he… was accepting of the other's attitude.

Fran wondered about them; why did Hayato seem so happy to be with Tsuna? And why did he refer to the older male as the Tenth? And these strangers? What was with them? Why were they here? Who the hell was he living with?

The small group of kids slowly dispersed as most of them headed off towards the oval – though it would take Fran a long time to learn that that was indeed what the 'open space' was called – so that they could do their own things. It was eventually just Hayato, Bel and Fran who were left standing by the adults, and the child couldn't work out why the blond would choose to stay here when the taller male clearly didn't like the ones he lived with.

Fran's unspoken question was soon answered when Bel turned around to leave, but was quickly stilled by a stern voice from behind him.

"Don't even think about it, herbivore."

Fran blinked at the peculiar choice of words; he wondered what herbivore meant as he had never heard it said before. Was it an insult? Probably; he had heard many of those before. He could understand that it was the raven-haired man dressed in a uniform who had spoken, but it still left the question as to what Bel had done wrong; all he had done was try to walk away, and none of the other kids had been in trouble for it. Perhaps Bel was like Fran in a sense that everything he did only made others mad at him, even if he had just sat where he was and said and done nothing at all.

Bel growled as he folded his arms across his chest and turned to – presumably – glare at his elders. "You can't tell the prince what to do! You're not my guardian!"

"Don't give me lip or I'll bite you to death," the raven threatened in a voice as cold as ice.

The blond man that was standing with the cop placed his hands on the uniformed male's shoulders in what Fran was sure was an attempt to calm his friend down. Now that Fran thought about it, he was sure that the other's uniform was that of a police officer; he had seen them before when they had come to take him from his home and put him in an orphanage instead. "Now, now, Kyouya; he's just a boy."

Tsuna glanced down at Fran and saw the slight confusion the child's narrowed eyebrows suggested. He then realised that the newest addition to his family hadn't met the three newcomers before and it was probably making him nervous – of course it would make Fran nervous on second thought; this entire situation would be daunting for him.

The brunet knelt down so that he was level with the younger and put on his most comforting smile as he gestured to the other adults. His hand waved at the tallest of the adults, the same male who had arrived with Tsuna.

"This is my close friend, Yamamoto," the brunet explained. "He volunteers to do activities with the kids. And this is Dino and Hibari-san. Hibari-san comes out to keep an eye on things and make sure no one gets into trouble."

Fran noticed the topic of why Dino was there was avoided, and the conversation instead turned to gathering the kids together to get them ready now that everyone was here.

Squalo was the first to speak once everyone was together, his voice loud as he ordered the kids around. "Everyone who's playing had better get their fucking asses over onto the field! Bel, you're still on the bench from beating those brats up last time we were here!"

"Ushishishi~" Bel laughed. His voice carried towards the adults as he made his way over to the bench sitting by a small rest area. His obscured eyes glinted with malice as he recalled the way he had savagely attacked the last group of kids who had been here at the same time as them for getting too close to him, and he hadn't stopped until Squalo had come to pull him away. He had gotten into huge trouble for it, but he didn't care; all that mattered was that he had protected himself. "They shouldn't have bothered the prince!"

Fran watched the boy clamber into the rest area as the uncomfortable feeling of being misplaced consumed him; he didn't feel like he belonged here with these other kids, like he deserved to be treated well compared to the other orphans he had stayed with – to be treated as if he was someone the adults cared about, even if Squalo and Xanxus shouted and swore at them all. He didn't deserve not being yelled at, being smacked and kicked around; he deserved the abuse he had been given for all that time, and it was stressing him greatly to have to be here in an environment he didn't understand.

When Tsuna squeezed the confused boy's shoulder gently, Fran's emotions only heightened further. The brunet said, "If you want to play baseball with the others, just follow everyone else. Otherwise you can sit on the bench with Bel, okay?"

Fran's reply was to turn around and follow Bel to the rest area, not wanting to associate himself in something like a 'game'. From what he was used to, it would most likely involve pain – a lot of pain. It was because of the prominent violence in his short life that Fran had learnt to tolerate hurt, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it; if there was the chance, he would rather avoid it.

While Bel had claimed the very edge of the bench for himself in order to put as much distance between Fran and himself as possible, he found his efforts had been in vain as Fran followed right beside him to get away from Hibari, the cop's very presence pushing the teal-haired male to Bel's side.

Bel narrowed his hidden eyes at the younger, and he slapped the hand away that came to grab his striped shirt. He shuddered, unable to bear being touched; the only person he felt safe enough to allow to touch him was Squalo, and even then he couldn't stand the long-haired man so close ninety-five percent of the time. "Don't touch the prince, peasant."

Fran's eyes widened for a split second before he calmly pulled his hand back to his own person. "I wouldn't want to catch your pathetic attitude, Prince-Self-Appointed."

Bel bit down on his lip before he balled his hand into a fist. He couldn't stop himself from throwing it as hard as he could into the younger's face, and he smirked triumphantly when it made contact; that ought to teach the little shit who to make fun of! He couldn't help but laugh as Fran was knocked backwards off the bench as blood started flowing down his chin from his nose and lip. A twisted grin crossed his face as he found small specks of blood on his knuckles, and his gaze never left the smaller male's as he raised his fist to lips and licked the blood away.

Fran raised a hand to his face and held his bloodied lips. His eyes showed no emotion as the cop behind him quickly moved to Bel's side and grabbed the blond's hand before anything else could happen. Bel snarled as he tried to get away from the other, but Hibari was much stronger and wasn't about to let him go.

"Do you want to go back into lockup for a few days again, herbivore?" The skylark leant in close enough for his hot breath to billow against the blond's ear. "They told me it knocked some sense into you for a few days. We can test that theory out again if you like."

Before Bel had the chance to protest against the threat of being locked in a jail cell again, the teal-haired child spoke softly, though inside he was anxious; he was only too used to being punched in the face, and he didn't want it to start happening again. "I'm going to tell the long-haired dumbass on you. He'll give me permission to kill you."

"Why, you little –" Bel couldn't finish his sentence as Hibari was quick to force him to his feet. "What are you doing? Don't touch me!"

"Your lack of manners gets to me." Hibari narrowed his dark eyes. "I don't know how they put up with you. I would not be able to deal with someone as ungrateful and annoying as you in my home."

The two glared at each other until Bel was the first to give in. He went back to his seat and glared anywhere but at the two next to him; he really wasn't in the mood for another confrontation with the skylark as the other was able to overpower him easily – he knew that from personal experience.

It seemed no one else had taken notice of the scuffle as they were all was absorbed in the game of baseball they were playing. Fran wasn't too sure of how the game worked, having never played it before, but it looked like the man he remembered as Dino was holding something he thought was a bat, while Tsuna was standing in front of him about to throw a ball.

Fran wasn't too sure what the point of this was but, once the ball was thrown and it connected with the bat, he felt as if not only the ball but the bat as well was heading straight for them as Dino lay slumped on the ground, looking as if he had tripped over air.

Fran watched as the two objects sailed to his side before a loud thump sounded beside him. He blinked and looked down, finding Hibari hanging backwards off the bench as he held his face in a similar manner as to how Fran had been earlier. It seemed obvious to the kid that his elder had been hit in the face and knocked off the bench from the impact and, if Bel's hysteric laughing was anything to judge by, the blond found it hilarious.

Dino came running over to their aid, and his eyes were wide as he repeatedly called out for the cop. "Kyouya, Kyouya! Kyouya, I'm so – oomph!"

Fran couldn't believe what he was seeing; Dino had, once again, hit the ground just before them. When the adult got back to his feet and crawled to Hibari's side, it took only one glance into those anger-filled black orbs to realise he was in trouble.

Dino gulped in sudden terror and got to his feet. He ran in the opposite direction he had come from, stumbling every now and then while a furious Hibari chased after him. While everyone's attention was focused on the two, Fran took this opportunity to slip away, wanting some time to be by himself – if he was lucky, everyone would forget he existed and leave without him.

Though no one else seemed to notice, Bel was intrigued by the younger's actions; where was the younger going, and why? Since he had first laid eyes on the younger, he had felt an overwhelming curiosity about Fran. He wanted to know why the teal-haired kid didn't seem to be scared of him at all like everyone else was; he had never been able to make friends, and even his guardians at the Varia Orphanage didn't always trust him; only too many times had they called Hibari to come and babysit him when he lost all control and snapped. He was used to people being scared of him, so to find someone – someone as young as Fran, even – who wasn't afraid to talk back to him…

Well, it invoked… things in him he had never felt before.

Bel, also, got to his feet. He was careful to sneak off after Fran while everyone's attention was diverted; he knew that if someone saw him leaving their view, he was going to be in trouble again as he wasn't supposed to be unsupervised while in public – hell, he even found it hard to get a bit of privacy at the orphanage.

As he chased after Fran, Bel couldn't help but think that the other was a smart kid to disappear into the small forest bordering on the edge of the oval; if anyone noticed they were missing, it would take a long time to find them amongst all of those trees – and Bel could do whatever he wanted to the younger without being interrupted.