"Lussuria…" Stepping into the hospital room located back in his hometown of Sicily, Squalo swallowed thickly as he looked anywhere but at the bed his friend was sitting next to. Dropping his head, he hesitated before he asked, "…How is he…?"

Lussuria shook his head, watching as Dino, Tsuna and Hayato trailed in after the long-haired man. He reached up, sliding a finger beneath his sunglasses so that he could wipe at his wet eyes. "…He's… not Bel…"

It was then Squalo looked to the bed, finding the blond lying motionless beneath the white blanket. He felt tears well up in his eyes as he noticed all the blood caked onto the younger's skin and in his golden locks, and he could only imagine the state of the other's body hidden beneath the thin sheet. Belphegor's hands had been tied down to the sides of the bed, and a small tube disappeared into his mouth, giving the man the impression he couldn't breathe by himself. "Did he say what happened…?"

"He can't talk around that tube, but…" Sniffing, the usually-flamboyant man shook his head. "I… I think he's really confused… A bad kind of confused… Confused about everything… He kept trying to pull the tube from his mouth so the nurses had to tie his hands down, and he just… he just kept screaming… I've never seen him so scared before, not even when I first adopted him…"

Looking to see that Belphegor's head was tilting slightly in order to follow his visitors' movements, Squalo knew the younger was scared; he had never hated Xanxus more than he did now – hurting Belphegor was a line no one should ever cross.

"Hey, Bel…" Moving slowly to the bed, Squalo raised his hands where the other could see them. He knew his companions were staying back in order to try and make the blond more comfortable, but in this state, would it really help? "I missed you… I bought you something while I was in Japan… All of our bags are in the car, but I promise I'll give it to you as soon as I can. Okay?"

Lussuria felt his heart break as he watched the way his charge's chest rose and fell haphazardly, hints of Belphegor's panicked breaths arising; he had seen a lot of things frighten the young man, but never had he thought Squalo would be one of those things; Belphegor loved the long-haired male too much to fear him.

"Honey, the nurse already asked me to make sure not to stress him." Putting his hands on Squalo's arm, Lussuria sent the younger a pleading look. "He… You have no idea what Xanxus has done to him…"

"Tell me, Luss…" Moving to the seat next his friend's, Squalo rubbed at his eyes.

"…That bandage around his head…" Pointing to the blood-stained bandage that was so saturated in the bodily fluid Squalo had thought it was hair, Lussuria let a tear slide down his cheek; just thinking about this devastated him. "The nurses said blunt trauma… He must have been hit in the head a lot… From that alone, they think there's a good chance of him having brain damage…"

"Fuck…" Dropping his face into his hands, Squalo choked on a sob; he knew it wasn't his fault, just like he had told Takeshi that his father's death hadn't been his; he hadn't known this was going to happen, and it wasn't like he had asked for it. "Bel…"

"He was shot… Twelve times, the nurse told me… They said some of his organs have been damaged from the wounds… And his… Down there… Xanxus must have… yeah… He must have done it for a while, and… The nurse said there was more damage down there than should have occurred from sexual penetration alone… They said… They said… when they found him… Not long after they found him, they… They had to resuscitate him… He would have died if they had been a minute later getting to him… They think that he was conscious the entire time until they got there… I think he just didn't want to die alone…"

"Oh, god…" The abused male's shoulders trembled as Squalo struggled to stop himself from crying; he loved Belphegor so much, it was agonising to know this had happened to him.

"His ribs are shattered, his knees and legs broken, and the x-ray of his back didn't look too good; I'm afraid to hear their diagnosis…"

"I'm so sorry, Bel…" Reaching out, Squalo tried to thread his fingers through bloodied locks, but Belphegor threw his head to the side, a wild emotion crossing his eyes as his bangs parted just long enough to notice them.

"He just wants to be left alone, dear…" Looking at his lap, Lussuria whispered, "He's been through enough… Just let him be…"

Squalo nodded, seeing that his travel companions were now coming to join them. He listened to Tsuna and Lussuria talking quietly, but all he really paid attention to was Dino's hand that was now sitting on his shoulder. He looked up at the older male, tears sliding down his cheeks as he shrugged.

"What am I supposed to do for him when he's like this, Bucking Horse…?" A bitter laugh escaped Squalo's throat before it was cut off by a strangled sob. "He got angry when I tried to touch him… He's never been angry at me before…"

"I don't know, Squalo… I don't know…" Leaning down, Dino wrapped his arms around his friend, holding him close. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be sorry; you didn't do this to him…"

"I know I didn't, Squalo… I know I didn't…"

Letting a loud sob slip past his lips, Squalo hated how much he cared; it would be so much easier if he could disappear and not care about anything anymore.

~~XX~~

Squalo had been able to handle watching Belphegor throw up constantly, but when the blond fell into a seizure, he had to leave the hospital; he couldn't bear to see the younger in such a bad way, unable to stop blaming himself for it.

Dino had brought his three friends back to his home, and though Tsuna and Hayato had been content with sitting in the living room, Squalo had been restless; he had paced around the house continuously before he locked himself in his room, growling for everyone to leave him alone.

"Do you think Squalo is going to be okay?" Tsuna sighed as he grabbed a piece of fruit from the platter on the coffee table in front of them. "He's really torn up about this."

"I don't know, to be honest..." Scratching below his eye, Dino shook his head. "I don't know what to do for him; I've never seen him like this, and I'm scared he's going to go after Xanxus himself."

"Yamamoto's catching the next flight down; he caught it as soon as the funeral finished - once he's here, we can sort this out together."

"I never thought I'd see that creep like this..." The silver-haired male muttered, remembering back to how scared and angry Belphegor had been. "He's always been so..."

"Sweet," Dino finished for the younger. "Bel really likes you, Hayato; I know you never really liked him, but do you think you could be a bit kinder to him from now on? I'm sure he'd love that; he's always wanted you to like him back."

Hayato muttered something before he stood up, looking anywhere but at Dino. "Where are the keys to that rental car? I'm gonna grab lunch. Anyone want anything?"

"Kitchen counter next to my car keys, and please; whatever you're getting is fine, Hayato."

"I'll come for a drive," Tsuna said, getting to his own feet.

Dino watched them head into the kitchen, not sure who he was more worried about; Belphegor or Squalo? Belphegor may never be the same again, and he had been badly hurt; what if emotional and mental damage weren't the only things he would have to live with?

"Dino, the keys aren't here."

Dino blinked at Tsuna's words before a panicked feeling overwhelmed him. Jumping up from his seat, he ran to Squalo's bedroom, opening the door and finding the younger wasn't in there.

"He's gone after Xanxus!" Dino exclaimed, running to snatch his own keys from the counter. "He's going to get himself killed!"

The younger two didn't hesitate to follow their friend out to the car; there was no time to waste when it came to Squalo dealing with his boyfriend alone.

~~XX~~

"Xanxus!" Kicking the front door shut behind him, Squalo stormed through the entrance hall of his home. He grit his teeth as his body trembled with rage, wishing he had his sword with him; never before had he wanted to kill his lover as much as he did now – he would never forgive the older man for what he had done to Belphegor. "Xanxus, where the fuck are you?!"

"You're loud, whore." Xanxus was seated in the living room, a bottle of wine next to him as his cat purred from his lap. He had the TV on, but whatever he had been watching had been paused, revealing nothing but a dark blur on the screen. "I thought you'd be back by now. I got you a present."

Squalo felt sick at these words, knowing nothing good would come from that 'present'. He stayed silent as his lover picked up the TV remote again, his eyes darting to the screen as the image started moving now.

"Xanxus, what – what the fuck?!" Squalo felt a sliver of horror pass through him as he recognised Belphegor's pained voice floating through the TV speakers. It was like a train wreck; he just couldn't look away as he watched what must have been a recording of that night, no matter how much he wanted to look away.

The long-haired man felt tears slide down his cheeks as he counted a handful of gunshot wounds in the blond's body, disgusted by the blood and semen that leaked from the other's rear. He felt he could throw up as a sickening crack filled the air, seeing that one kneecap had been broken right in front of him.

"Bel…" Raising his ears to block out the desperate, incoherent pleads of Belphegor for his assaulter to stop, please stop, oh god, stop, Squalo tensed his body. His eyes were drawn to the screen as he watched the blond pant harshly before weakly rolling himself halfway to one side. He laid there for a few seconds before he tried to drag himself away with just one arm, but he didn't get far at all before he was forced onto his back and Xanxus lined his hips up. The sickening screams of someone he loved so much were what had dropped Squalo to his knees, wishing he could look away, block the sound out, anything but watch the agony that sweet-natured young man had been put through.

"He was such a good fuck." Shifting, Xanxus allowed the younger to see his arousal pushing against his pants. "No wonder his family loved fucking his tight little ass so much; must have made a fortune from all the men they rented him out to."

"Don't talk about him like that, Xanxus…" Squalo hissed, wishing he could listen to anything but the recordings of his lover telling Belphegor that he was nothing but a slut who was only good for a quick fuck. "Don't you fucking talk about him as if you know him!"

Xanxus smirked as his boyfriend charged at him, but he barely had to move a muscle to block the younger's attack. He reached out, ripping at silver strands in order to drag the weaker man down to his height. Whispering against the other's ear, his hot breath sent shivers through Squalo's body. "I don't need to know him to know that he's a worthless whore who'd do anything to have your cock buried deep inside of him. I already told him; he should kill himself now because it's the only thing in his pathetic, miserable life that he's going to amount to – that, or Lussuria will eventually get bored of him and either keep him for his own needs or rent him out, just like his family did."

"I hate you so fucking much, Xanxus!" Swinging his elbow out at the taller male, Squalo bit through his lip as his attack missed and the other retaliated with a powerful punch to his jaw. He spat out blood that was quickly filling his mouth before he instead raised his knee, connecting with the man's hip. He made no sound as he was thrown across the ground, getting straight back to his feet in order to meet the dark-haired male's approach and duck beneath the wide swing aimed at his throat.

Their attacks continued on for what felt like an eternity, and though Squalo was on the losing side of the battle, covered in blood and throbbing in pain, he continued on, fuelled by his rage towards the other.

"Squalo!"

Looking over his shoulder at the unexpected shout from behind him, Squalo's eyes widened to find Dino and the others had arrived; he didn't want their help – he didn't want anyone's help – because this didn't have anything to do with them; it was between Xanxus and he, and he would be damned if he let someone else get hurt because of him.

"Stay out of this, Bucking Horse!" Squalo snapped, wiping at the thick river of blood that was flowing down the side of his face. "This is my fight!"

A look of understanding crossed Dino's face for a few seconds before his eyes widened and he shouted, "Behind you!"

Squalo spun around, just in time to hear the words, "You've outlived your usefulness, trash", and then a deafening roar exploded right in his ears and the whole world went black.