When it came time for breakfast and Dino was nowhere to be found, the younger males became worried; it wasn't like Dino to disappear and leave them by themselves. They didn't have much time to worry, though; just when Takeshi offered to cook everyone sushi, Hayato's phone rang and the caller ID read Dino.

"Hello?" Hayato was worried, and even more so when he picked up on the anxiety in the blond's voice.

"Hayato, is Squalo still there?" Dino sounded as if he were ready to cry.

"…" The younger male bit at his lip; Squalo was indeed still at the house, but he hadn't come out of the bedroom once. "He is, but I think he's still sleeping."

"He'll be awake; knock on the door and tell him I have to talk to him; it's urgent."

Hayato lifted the phone away from his ear so he could look at his friends. "Hey, Dino wants me to get Squalo. He says it's urgent. Should I wake him?"

"No need; I'm right here."

The silver-haired male turned around at Squalo's gruff voice. He was silent for several moments before he said, "Dino wants to talk to you."

The man shrugged as he reached out for the phone. He swiped sway bangs from his eyes as he raised the device to his ear. "What do you want?"

What made it hard for Takeshi and Tsuna to follow the conversation was the fact that the long-haired male had reverted back to his native tongue in order to speak with Dino, and what made it even worse was the fact that, without being able to hear what Dino was saying, they had nothing to go on as to why all of a sudden, it looked as if Squalo was about to cry.

"Gokudera-kun, what's he saying…?" Tsuna whispered.

Hayato was frowning. He shook his head before he said, "I… Something's happened…"

It was when Squalo ended the call and threw the phone back at Hayato did Takeshi finally get to his feet and move to stand next to the taller male. He wanted so badly to reach out and put his hand on the other's shoulder, but he remembered what Dino had told him; he had to be patient. "Squalo? Are you okay?"

When Squalo spoke, it was in a faraway voice, as if he knew what he was saying, but the reality of his own words hadn't yet sunk in. "Bel's going to die… And it's all because of me…"

~~XX~~

There wasn't much that could hurt Takeshi more than seeing someone so upset, and right now, watching someone he cared about crying like this… Well, it had been a while since his own chest felt like it was clenching in pain.

It wasn't easy for Takeshi to understand what Squalo and Dino were saying; he was reliant on Hayato to explain what was going on and to translate, but even so, he still felt like he needed to do something; he couldn't just sit by and watch as Squalo hurt.

"Yamamoto?" Tsuna frowned as his friend stood up from the living room couch they were seated on. He watched the dark-haired male approach the two adults on the other side of the room, and though part of him worried for his friend's safety, something told him he didn't have need to worry right now.

"Hey, Squalo?" Takeshi stood by the chair Squalo was on. He waited until the man was looking at him before he offered a gentle smile. "Gokudera told us what's going on. You can talk to me about it if you want; I'm happy to listen."

The long-haired man shook his head. In an exhausted tone, he muttered, "You're not gonna care… About him or me…"

Takeshi didn't take those words to heart; he knew Squalo was just lashing out. Instead, he kept his smile up and said, "But I like Bel, Squalo. If something happened to him, I'm going to be sad. Just like how I feel sad now knowing you're so upset."

"Liar… You people are all the same… Too busy with your perfect little lives to spare a thought for people like me and Bel… So what your uncle was an ass to you? That's nothing compared to what we have to live with…"

"But, Squalo, when we went ice skating that day, I was the one who asked if Bel could come with us. I wanted Dino to ask you to come as well, but he said you wouldn't. I want Bel to be my friend, just like how I want to be friends with you."

"It's too late for that shit. He's going to die."

Dino touched his friend's shoulder at this. He shook his head. "There's still a chance they can save him, Squalo; he might pull through."

The long-haired male sneered. He turned back to Takeshi. "Even if he does make it, why do you care about him anyway? Would you still care if you knew why he is the way he is? What he did yesterday because of it all? You can say you care, but you never truly could; you couldn't understand him, just like you couldn't understand me."

"Then tell me all about it so I can try and understand." Takeshi knew this wasn't going to be easy, but even so, he wasn't going to back down now; he knew he was slowly getting somewhere, even if it might involve a bit of going around in circles at first – he just had to be patient. "I want to know about you both because I want to be friends with you both. Please help me understand."

Squalo's eyes widened as panic started building in him. He looked at Dino, silently pleading with the blond to help him, but how was he supposed to ask the other to do so when he could no longer remember how to ask for help? "…"

Dino smiled at the younger male. "It's okay, Squalo. If there's anyone you can trust, it's Takeshi. I promise. His life isn't as perfect as you think it is; just because he can still smile doesn't mean he hasn't hurt, too."

The long-haired male bit at his lip. He glared down at his lap for several seconds before he looked back up and growled, "Then if it's so bad for him, why is he coping so easily?!"

"Because I have my friends with me to help me when I fall." Takeshi didn't mind Squalo's resistance; he could get where the other was coming from because he knew how hard it could be at times to trust again. "And if you'd let me, I can be your friend, too."

"…" It was true Squalo could once remember a time where he was able to call people his friends, but that time was long gone, and he didn't think he could do it again – after all, where had his 'friends' been when his ex had tortured him for hours on end? Where had they been when he had taken Bel and ran away for their own safety, only to sleep under a newspaper out in the rain? They hadn't been there for him, so why would they be now?

But look at where you are, Squalo.

The long-haired man flinched at his own voice inside of his head. He hated moments like these, where his side of reasoning would come into play and make him feel more stressed than he already was. He shook his head. "How am I supposed to trust you when I can't even trust myself…?"

"You don't have to trust me. At least, not right now. If you need time, that's okay; I'm sure one day in the future you can come to trust me."

Squalo frowned. "You'd wait that long…?"

"Yup~ There's no rush, Squalo; I only want for you to be comfortable. That's all."

Squalo didn't know how to reply to that, so he spoke the first thing on his mind. "Voi, Bucking Horse, take me to see Bel."

"Can I come with you?" Takeshi smiled when the two adults nodded. He knew that his friends would understand that this was something he needed to do, so he was relieved when neither of them tried to stop him; to know that he had their support in the things he wanted to do in life meant much more to him than he would ever be able to explain.

~~XX~~

The walls of the hospital were blindingly white, and Takeshi couldn't say he liked being here very much; he had always found hospitals to be depressing, and because of that, he felt as if his senses were on overdrive.

Dino had dropped them off at the hospital entrance so he could go back home and stay with Tsuna and Hayato. Takeshi didn't mind; he still had Squalo with him, and they could help get each other through this.

Neither of them spoke until they were seated in Bel's hospital room, listening to the soft beeps and whirs of all the machines that were keeping the boy alive. As sad as Squalo had been before, he still took the furthest chair from the younger's bed, almost as if he couldn't bear to be in that room.

Takeshi, however, sat as close to the bed as he could get. He grabbed Bel's hand and held it tight, hoping that it would be able to bring relief to the blond even in unconsciousness. He didn't dare look at the deathly pale face hidden partially behind a ventilator; he instead allowed his gaze to wander over the scarred flesh that was Bel's wrist.

"I was fourteen when I found him."

Takeshi looked up at Squalo's heartbroken voice. He said nothing; he just waited patiently for the man to continue on.

"…He was eight… I found him on the streets, and… I took him home with me… I don't really know why I did it; I just… My boyfriend, Xanxus… It was around the time things started getting bad between us…"

"…"

"Bel was a really good kid back then… The only problem was, he was traumatised… I hated it when he cried, and so I just wanted to help him… I kept giving him alcohol because it was the only thing that had been working for me… And then when I started doing drugs, I gave them to him, as well… Then Mammon took him off me when she found out what I'd done, and from there, I fell apart… He had been all I had keeping me together… And it was the same for him… He was never the same after she took him from me… And it's all my fault; I never should have given him what I had… Look at where he is now…"

"You didn't know this was going to happen; you only wanted him to be okay."

"I was stupid, and the worst thing is, I didn't even realise that until now… If he dies, it's… It's all my fault…"

Takeshi frowned. "You really don't want him to die, do you? You really care about him a lot more than you let on."

Squalo nodded. He closed his eyes to try and fight back tears, but it was useless; they still slipped past his eyelids and down his cheeks. "This is all my fault… I did this to him…"

"Squalo, you didn't –" Before Takeshi could even finish his sentence, the room became filled with the shrill beeping of Bel's heartrate monitor as it went flat, but no matter how deafening it was, it was nothing compared to the howl of agony Squalo let loose as he rushed to the hospital bed and pulled Bel into his arms.

It wasn't often Takeshi didn't know what to do, but right now, all he could do was listen as Squalo begged and pleaded for Bel to come back. Somewhere through it all, he felt tears of his own roll down his cheeks.