When Takeshi first met Timoteo, he was honestly surprised; hearing that the man was Xanxus' foster father, he had expected a big, scary man – but Timoteo was as gentle as a kitten. Fran had told him that the man had developed leg problems in his old age, and that was why he had taken so long in coming out, but watching the Italian man interact with Fran and Bel, Takeshi knew that he cared.

"Yes, those are some terrible burns." Timoteo's dark eyes were soft as he pulled the hem of Bel's striped shirt back down, having looked at the result of the fire closely. His fingers had danced across the scarred flesh, a remorseful frown on his face as they did so. "You and Fran are very lucky to have escaped with your lives, Belphegor."

Fran and Takeshi sat on their bed together while Bel and Timoteo sat at the desk across from them. Bel looked at the ground as he sighed, knowing the man was right.

"I miss our home..." Bel said softly, his voice heavy with exhaustion. "I just want to go home..."

"I'm sure you do, Belphegor, but I'm afraid there is nothing we can do to remedy that for you." The old man's soft heart twisted at the boy's words. "We can only hope that Xanxus' branch of the company can pull through so the repairs can be started once more."

"Can't you pay for it or something?" Bel hadn't slept the previous night, nor had he eaten anything; he was grumpy, running on empty.

"Believe me, I am putting money towards it – of course I am; but the damages are so great, my money alone cannot fix it, Belphegor."

The blond made a frustrated noise as he stomped his foot, the first sign of a temper tantrum coming their way. Fran knew none of them needed Bel's childish maturity at the moment, so he stood up, touching the older male's elbow gently.

"Bel-senpai, you need some sleep." Fran was gentle as he coaxed Bel out of the room, leading him to his own room to get some rest. "I think you need to have a nap."

"I don't need a nap!" Bel exclaimed in annoyance. "I am a prince! I can do whatever I want!"

"But you're exhausted, senpai. You're grumpy."

"You're the grumpy one!" Bel retorted. "Why don't you have a nap?!"

"See? Bel-senpai, if you have a nap, I'll tell Dino Xanxus said you can have ice cream for dinner."

Bel was too tired to argue; he just nodded dumbly, dragging his feet across the floor. He struggled to keep his eyes open, and he felt as if he was going to fall asleep whilst standing.

"Senpai!" Fran was surprised when the other's legs gave out, almost falling to the ground with Bel's dead weight as he caught the falling blond. "Senpai? Are you okay?"

Bel didn't feel like he had the strength required to keep walking; he just wanted to stay here and sleep. "Froggy..."

"Come on, Bel-senpai." Fran wrapped his arms around the older male, trying to get him to walk. "Not too far now. Come on. We need to get you into bed before you hurt yourself."

Bel just groaned in frustration.

~~XX~~

"So you're Takeshi?" Timoteo smiled at the Japanese teenager, pushing the chair Bel had been sitting on beneath the desk. "Xanxus has told me a lot about you."

"I never took Xanxus as the kind of person to talk about me." Takeshi smiled at the man, surprised by his words. "What does he say?"

"He says you're very good to young Fran," the grey-haired man said in a gentle tone. "He told me you love Fran very much, and you've treated him very well."

"Well, he's my boyfriend and I love him." The Japanese teenager couldn't help but smile in a love-struck manner. "I would do anything for him."

"I now understand why Xanxus speaks so fondly of you." Timoteo patted Takeshi's shoulder. "It's very rare for him to accept others, but he certainly thinks of you as his family already."

"I can see he cares; he just has a different way of showing it." Takeshi nodded.

"Fran is very special to all of them, and they love him very much." Timoteo looked towards the doorway when someone knocked on the hardwood. "Yes?"

The door opened, and Takeshi's eyes brightened as Squalo stepped into the room. "I want to work with Takeshi on a new sword technique."

"Okay, Squalo." Takeshi grinned as he stood up, moving to the older male's side. He bowed politely to Timoteo before saying, "It was really nice to talk to you, Timoteo-san."

"Likewise." The old man smiled at the lively teenager before he stood up, going to talk to his foster child instead.

With Takeshi and Squalo, the two talked quietly as they walked through the hall towards the large room Dino had allowed Squalo to practise his skills with swords. It had been a long, tiring day at the company, and the silver-haired man needed a distraction.

"In here, Takeshi." Squalo directed the younger male into a bare room, larger than Takeshi's entire house. "There's nothing to break in here. We can go all-out."

Takeshi nodded, moving towards the two swords sitting on the ground, waiting for them patiently. He picked one for himself, watching as Squalo took the other.

"Best two out of three," Squalo instructed gruffly as he bowed respectfully to his training opponent, just like he had grown accustomed to doing in the katana competitions he would always enter.

Takeshi agreed and, after a few minutes of setting the rules, began.

~~XX~~

Fran was surprised to find that, after returning to his room, Takeshi and Timoteo were gone. He had found the old man downstairs, having a glass of wine with Xanxus while the two talked, and was told that Takeshi and Squalo were practising with the swords again.

The teal-haired boy had eventually found the room the two were occupying, but he didn't go inside; not when he could hear the two talking about him and Bel.

"I asked Bel once before, but he wouldn't tell me." Fran knew that was Takeshi speaking.

"That's because Bel keeps everything to himself," Fran heard Squalo replying to the teenager. "He didn't tell us what had happened until I found him crying a few years after we took him in."

"What did happen?"

"He had been in Italy with his family on holidays. They had recently attended a circus together, and Bel and his older twin brother tried to mimic what they had seen. They threw knives at each other, but Bel had accidentally hit brother. Their parents weren't home, and Bel panicked. He ran away and left his brother to bleed to death, and by the time his parents returned and found what had happened, they beat him and then abandoned him on the streets. Lussuria found him, and even though Bel hadn't known a word of Italian, Luss knew he was out there alone and brought him to live with us."

"I didn't know he had a brother..." Takeshi sounded thoughtful at this.

"It took him a long time to tell us that himself. He lost a lot of people he loved, and that's why he started clinging to Fran when we took him in."

"Bel is very protective of Fran, I've noticed."

"They were best friends when they were younger, but they started drifting apart. Shortly after Fran met you, he and Bel's relationship slowly got better. They're close once again."

Fran didn't like to be talked about, even if it was just something simple like this. He sighed as he pushed open the door and stepped in, his teal eyes staring accusingly at Squalo.

"You know I don't like to be talked about behind my back, Squalo." Fran walked over to Takeshi, wrapping his arms around the younger. He rested his head on the Japanese teenager's shoulder, sighing. "I'm not mad at you, Takeshi."

Takeshi's large hand ran through soft teal hair in apology. He kissed the boy's forehead before he returned the embrace, humming softly.

"Want to watch us practise?" Takeshi offered, gesturing to the swords they had abandoned by their lunch. "We're taking a break at the moment."

"Okay." Fran moved over to the break area, grabbing the glass that contained milk. He took a few sips of it before he placed it back down, knowing it wasn't his to drink.

The three of them sat quietly for a few minutes more before Takeshi and Squalo stood up, ready to continue. Fran couldn't help but let sleep take over him as they practised, absolutely exhausted.