"I'm hungry…"

Tsuna looked up from the bento he had been eating, his eyes soft as he regarded Belphegor. The boy was sitting across from him up on the roof with his other friends, Mammon normal-sized as she sat in the blond's lap. "You haven't got any lunch?"

Bel sighed as he shook his head, his uninjured hand rubbing at his stomach. He blinked as the brunet's bento was held out to him, confused for just a split second before he snatched it away from the younger and started to devour what was left of it. He gave some to Mammon in between his mouthfuls, earning a cheerful laugh from Yamamoto and a scowl from Gokudera.

"You shouldn't eat so fast, Belphegor." Tsuna himself was hungry, but he didn't want the boy to starve; if Bel insisted on coming to school, he would have to make sure his mother prepared two bentos instead now lest losing his lunch become a habit. "It's not good for you."

Bel sent the younger a glare before he returned back to his food, shovelling it down just as quickly as before. The brunet sighed before he turned to his two friends, talking with them quietly. The blond didn't care; he was content purely with his food.

"You're quiet again, Bel." Mammon flicked crumbs off of her lap, looking up at her friend. "What are you thinking?"

Bel shrugged, his hand stilling in its movement to bring the chopsticks to his mouth. "...I feel like going home now…"

"You don't like school? You were so excited earlier."

Bel cocked his head to the side. "It's not that; I do like school. I'm tired…"

Mammon nodded in understanding. "We'll go back to the Vongola's home, then."

Tsuna, who had been focused on his friends, looked up when Bel got to his feet. "What's wrong?"

"We're going back to the house." Bel picked Mammon up, sitting her on his head. "I want to sleep."

The brunet didn't know what to think; Bel's moods were unpredictable, and they always went from one extreme to another. "Okay…"

With that said, Bel was gone.

"Have you noticed that on the odd occasion he is happy, it doesn't last very long?" Tsuna looked between Gokudera and Yamamoto, finding their eyes fixed on him. "I think he might be sick in the head…"

"Tenth, it's clear that he is; no one mentally healthy is like him." Gokudera sneered at the thought of Belphegor, his dislike towards the older male too great to ignore. "I bet he's schizophrenic or something."

"Schizophrenic?" Yamamoto blinked, a confused expression crossing his face. "What's that?"

"Read a fucking book or something, baseball idiot!" the silver-haired male snapped. He then turned back to Tsuna, patiently awaiting for his best friend's reply.

"Ah, Yamamoto, maybe that is something you should look up," Tsuna said softly, not knowing how to explain such a complicated illness to the taller male. "Gokudera-kun, I don't know about schizophrenia; I'm thinking more bipolar."

"Bipolar?" Yamamoto cocked his head to the side, not understanding any of these terms; were these sicknesses he could potentially catch himself? They sounded serious; he hoped to never catch them.

"Tenth, those symptoms can overlap, though." As always, Gokudera was knowledgeable, as well as uncaring. "Or maybe he has neither and he's just naturally fucking nuts."

"Don't talk about him like that, Gokudera-kun; he needs help."

"And a straitjacket, a padded cell and medication daily." The Storm Guardian nodded as his own words. However, just one look from the younger male silenced him, realising that he was upsetting his beloved Tenth. "I'm very sorry, Tenth…"

"It's okay, Gokudera-kun." Tsuna had to be understanding of the fact that his friend had been through a lot and didn't trust others; there was no way he could ever ask for Gokudera to change just to please him – he loved the silver-haired teenager just the way he was.

~~XX~~

"I thought you wanted to go to sleep." Mammon hovered over a puddle of blood, the shadows cast by the huge alleyway walls making it look darker than it really was. There were three bodies around Bel and herself, all of them mutilated beyond recognition; she didn't even know what parts laying where belonged to whom, just that Bel had gone overboard.

"I do." Bel sniffed, rubbing at his itching eyes. He smeared more blood than there already was over his pale flesh, his hands and clothing coated in the substance. "I couldn't help myself this time, Mammy; I couldn't."

"I know, Bel." Mammon knew all too well that her friend's murderous moods were uncontrollable; it was often his way of venting, the boy having never been good at talking about how he felt.

"I'm tired, Mammy…" Bel dropped one of his knives to the cement below them, running saturated fingers through his blond locks. He left red streaks through his hair as he did so, paying no heed to this. "I'm so tired… My head… It won't stop… It won't…"

"What happened to make it worse, Bel?" Mammon was soft as she spoke, knowing that Bel had been fine during the Ring Battles, but all of a sudden, whatever was wrong with him had suddenly spiked without warning.

"I don't know…" Bel fell to his knees, hunching over them as he lifted both hands to grasp at his hair. "I don't… know…!"

Mammon was stoic as the boy started to hyperventilate, blond bangs mixed with blood parting just enough for her to catch sight of wide, terrified eyes. "What is it, Bel?"

Bel shook his head, leaning forward further so that he could vomit. A few tears slipped down his cheeks, mingling with the mess, but he didn't even notice this; all he could see were his family's bodies strewn out before him, their blood coating him from head-to-toe as he stood, a knife in his hand as he trembled, tears rolling down his cheeks as the realisation of what he had just done hit him like a ton of bricks.

Mammon closed her eyes in sorrow as she watched the Varia Storm slide his sleeve his sleeve upward, picking up the knife he had discarded earlier in order to place it against his wrist. She floated towards the boy at the first cut, sitting down on his lap so that she could put tiny hands against his. Shaking her head, she said, "No more, Bel. It doesn't need to come to this."

"I want to die…" Bel quivered, unable to stop dragging the blade through his own flesh. He sobbed, feeling sick as he tried to explain just how bad he was feeling to Mammon. "I want to die… It's only getting worse, Mammy… It won't… It won't stop! I want it to stop! Please!"

Mammon sighed, unable to comprehend what the boy was going through; was his mental health so bad, he felt the only way out of it was to kill himself…? She didn't understand this, and she hoped she never would.

~~XX~~

By the time Tsuna came home from school, he was surprised to find Belphegor curled up in his bed, fast asleep, bandages poking out from beneath his sleeves. Mammon was sitting next to him, reading a book.

"What happened to his wrists?" Tsuna frowned, wondering if maybe the older male had gotten into a fight or something – if Mammon hadn't eventually been able to coax him into showering and changing his clothing, it would have been only too obvious what had happened.

Mammon sighed as she put the book down. She didn't want to give away Bel's secrets, but she knew that Tsuna wasn't like the rest of the Varia and that he could be trusted to help keep an eye on the blond. "He self-harms."

Tsuna gasped at the information, his eyes widening in shock; he had never expected for such a thing from Bel of all people, but… Then again, during the time after the Ring Battles, it became clear there was another side to him. "…I don't… What can I do to help?"

"Watch him." Mammon closed the book before pushing it off the bed, letting it thump on the ground. "Make sure he doesn't try and kill himself. Tell me if he does; I doubt he'll let you help him – he doesn't trust you yet."

Tsuna nodded, dropping his bag to the floor. He truly felt bad for the boy, and he wanted to keep him safe, but what could he do? He was No-Good Tsuna, and he would only make things worse.

For now, it was best to not let Bel know that someone else knew about what he did to himself; hopefully he would be able to come around and seek help from Tsuna by himself.