When lunchtime rolled around the next day, Squalo wasn't surprised to find Bel in his office before classes had ended; the boy had a bad habit of leaving the classroom before the bell rang. Squalo couldn't blame him, though; the blond was simply stressed without his guardian around.

"What are you doing, brat?" Putting his pen down on the desk he was sitting at, Squalo sighed.

Taking his seat across from the man, Bel shrugged. He laid his arms against the hardwood, resting his cheek on top of his wrist as he looked out of the window. "…"

"Did the Bucking Horse let you leave?" Glancing down at his watch, Squalo found that there was still half an hour left before break; surely the teacher hadn't let Bel leave so early…?

Shaking his head, Bel made a soft sound. "…"

"Is something upsetting you?" Knowing that the answer was probably yes, the man closed his eyes; oh, how Bel exhausted him at times.

Nodding, Bel licked his lips. "…"

Too tired to deal with this right now, Squalo went back to the papers he was signing; Bel seemed to be okay, so if he could just sit quietly like this, then he should be alright. "Okay. Sit down for a while, brat."

Bel did as he was told. He was silent for several minutes before he lifted his head and said, "Squ…? You said it's okay that I like both girls and boys…"

"It is. I don't give a fuck who you like." Not lifting his gaze from the contract he was reading over, Squalo listened carefully for a reply; was this what was bothering his kid?

"…" Dropping his head once more, Bel sighed. "How come people are being mean to me, then?"

"Who's being mean?"

"Some of the people in my class…" Tensing as he spoke about what was upsetting him, Bel hesitated before speaking again; he hated talking about things that bothered him because he found it very hard to do so. "…They… They called me a faggot… And they said I was disgusting because I like other boys, too… They said I'm only allowed… to like girls… And that they would hurt me if they ever saw me with another boy… I didn't want to tell Dino, so I said I was getting a drink, and then I came here…"

Gripping his pen tightly, Squalo became angry at these words; how dare someone threaten his kid for something like this?! "Did you say anything back to them, brat?"

Nodding, Bel spoke again. "I told them that you said it was okay, and… And then they started saying bad things about you, too… I told them to stop, but they wouldn't, and I was getting really mad, so I left."

"I don't care what they said about me, Bel; I don't want them talking to you like that." Shaking his head, Squalo wished he wasn't so tired; he needed to help Bel, but it was hard to do so when he hadn't gotten any sleep the night previous. "Why didn't you want to tell the Bucking Horse?"

When Bel simply looked at his lap in silence, Squalo understood; the boy was probably embarrassed, and not comfortable with the idea of telling his teacher what was going on.

"Do you want me to talk to him about what happened?" Nodding when he received a tiny, 'Yes…' in response, Squalo then added, "We'll sort it out for you, Bel. In the meantime, you need to stand up for yourself a bit more. You're not assertive enough; you just get angry and then you get in trouble, too."

"But they don't stop when I tell them to; not unless I hit them first…" Bel found standing up for himself to be a very confusing concept; he never could seem to do it right because his bullies didn't stop until he started to fight them, and then he was the one being scolded. It didn't make any sense to him, and it only upset him to know that he couldn't understand what Squalo was trying to tell him to do.

Squalo knew he wasn't the best person to tell Bel how to stand up for himself; he himself naturally lashed out physically without even telling his antagonists to stop, but he couldn't teach Bel to do that, too; it would only land the boy in more hot water than he already got himself into at times. "I'll get Dino to try and help you, Bel. In the meantime, just sit there; you don't have to go back to class."

Bel nodded. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled his phone out. Opening the menu, he started up one of the games to distract himself with. He was quiet for a few minutes before saying, "Squ… How do you know when you… Um…"

Raising his eyebrow, Squalo waited for Bel to continue. "…"

"…It's…" Letting out a frustrated sigh, Bel shook his head. "When… When we were talking… to Dino's friends this morning… I… I thought that… Hayato… Hayato is..."

"You think Hayato is cute?" Smiling at the flushed look that had slowly crept upon the boy's face as Bel tried to convey his thoughts, Squalo couldn't help but feel a bit of weight lift off his shoulders; he had been worried his charge would never develop a crush; the boy just didn't show enough interest in people for him to like someone like that.

Bel nodded, looking at his lap. "When… When I was masturbating before classes… I thought of Hayato… I… I've never really… thought of anyone before when I touch myself…"

While Squalo was uncomfortable with this, he allowed the boy to be so open with him; Bel trusted him, and if he wanted to tell Squalo this, then he could. "Yeah? Do you think he's someone you want to talk to?"

Bel nodded. "I… I'm… Squ-Squ… I…"

"I know, Bel. You're just very wary of strangers. But Hayato's not really a stranger anymore, is he? You know who he is; you just haven't spoken to him yet."

"I want to talk to him… But I'm scared…"

"If you ask Dino what Hayato likes, maybe you'll find you have something in common with him. Then you can talk to him about it, and it won't be so hard. You love telling me all about your videogames; maybe you can tell him about them, too."

Bel nodded, hoping Squalo was right; he had never really noticed much about the younger three Dino seemed to like so much, but this morning, as he stood behind Squalo in one of the school hallways and observed the three, he couldn't help but find that his attention was drawn almost exclusively to the silver-haired male. "Do you think he wants to talk to me, too?"

"I don't know; maybe. The other two do." Standing up from his desk, Squalo moved over to the filing cabinets behind him. He opened one of the drawers and resurfaced with a folder, taking it back to the desk with him. "You'll never know unless you talk to them, Bel. How about you go back to class, and when it's lunchtime, go with him to see them? I'm going to be busy for break so I can't go with you."

"Do I have to tell him everything…?" Whispering, Bel trembled slightly; while he truly liked Dino, he wasn't as comfortable with the other blond like he was with Squalo; he could tell Squalo almost anything, but he couldn't talk about a lot of things with his other guardian.

Shaking his head, Squalo grabbed a notepad from his desk. Writing a note on it, he then tore it out and passed it to the boy. "Give this to him, and I'll talk to him after school. Go into the bathroom and calm yourself down before you go back, though."

"Okay." Getting to his feet, Bel gave his guardian a hug before leaving the office and returning to class. He was glad that Squalo understood him so well, so he sincerely hoped that the man would never give him back to his parents – anything but that; Bel wanted to stay with the long-haired man forever.

~~XX~~

When lunchtime arrived and Bel found himself seated on the roof of the school with Dino and the younger teenagers, he picked shyly at his striped shirt as he tried to decide what to say; both Dino and Squalo had told him to be himself, but it was hard for him to do so around strangers; he was simply scared, and it made it hard for him to socialise.

"Is that good sushi, Bel?"

Lifting his head as he heard Tsuna talk to him, Bel nodded. He hummed in response before he looked back down, not looking at Dino as the man spoke to him next.

"Squalo takes you to Takesushi all the time, doesn't he, Bel?"

"…" Nodding, the boy picked at his rice before lifting some to his lips with his chopsticks.

"Well, Takeshi's dad actually owns that restaurant." Smiling down at his students, Dino was glad that Bel was now paying attention to the other teens; it seemed that he had found something to interest his fellow blond in.

"You like sushi, then?" Takeshi grinned when he received a meek nod in response. "Why don't you come over to my place for dinner and we'll hang out for a while?"

Looking up at Dino for an answer, the boy agreed when his teacher nodded at him. He then looked at Hayato, wishing he knew how to ask for the silver-haired teen to join them – however, it seemed that Takeshi knew exactly what he wanted as he next said, "Tsuna and Gokudera can join us, too, if they want."

Bel felt giddy as he heard Hayato reluctantly agree; did that mean he was going to get to spend more time with the younger? Maybe he would be able to talk to Hayato tonight instead right now; it would give him more time to calm down and decide what he wanted to talk about.

Maybe… he could ask Hayato tonight if the silver-haired teen liked him back.

~~XX~~

Standing in the middle of Takesushi, Bel hugged Squalo tight as he kissed the man's cheek in farewell. He was very nervous about this, but Squalo had promised to come and get him whenever he wanted to go home.

"You're going to be fine, brat." Squeezing Bel's shoulder as he stood up straight, Squalo couldn't help but feel worried; the boy had never had friends before, much less gone to someone else's home like this; he wasn't sure if Bel would be able to handle it or not. "I'll call you soon and ask how you're doing."

"Okay." Stepping away from the older male, Bel took a deep breath before he approached Takeshi waiting by the doorway into the back of the restaurant. He watched the younger warily as he followed the other into the living quarters, tense as he soon found himself in a bedroom smaller than his own, Tsuna and Hayato already seated on pillows on the ground.

"Hey, Bel." Tsuna smiled up at the older male, pointing to another pillow next to Hayato. "You can sit if you want to."

Bel felt his mouth go dry as he nodded, his groin twitching as he realised how close he could be to Hayato; he was close enough to reach out and touch… Hastily sitting beside the silver-haired teenager, Bel couldn't stop his hands from shaking; he wanted to reach out and see if the younger's skin was as soft as it looked, but…

Oh, what the hell; Squalo wasn't here to tell him no.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Glaring at the blond who had just poked him in the face, Hayato clenched his hands into fists; oh, how he hated being touched so childishly.

Bel licked his lips at this question, shaking his head. "Soft…"

"The fuck?" Getting to his feet, Hayato glared at his host. "I'm going out for a smoke."

Bel frowned as he watched his crush leave, but he didn't say anything; he didn't know what to say; had he upset the other somehow…?

"Here's some sushi for you, Bel."

Looking up as he was passed a bento, Bel forgot his previous distress; he couldn't be sad when there was sushi involved. "…"

"My pop made this for us." Taking a seat with the rest of them, Takeshi smiled. "He said he's served you heaps; you really love his sushi."

"Yeah!" Barely aware of the way his reply slipped so enthusiastically from his lips, Bel started to dig into his meal; he loved Takesushi even more than Squalo's cooking.

Tsuna chuckled at the, sudden happiness he could see in the taller male, glad that something was cheering him up from the anxiety he had been displaying at first; this kid was quite adorable, as Dino had told them he could be at times.

"Did you have a good day at school, Bel?" Trying to get a bit of conversation out of the other while he seemed okay, Tsuna waited patiently for a reply.

Shaking his head, Bel frowned. He took a tentative bite of sushi, chewing it slowly as he tried to gather his thoughts. "…I… The other students… don't like me…"

"We like you, Bel." His smile shining brightly, Takeshi couldn't help but reach out, throwing his arm around the smaller male's shoulders from habit. He was oblivious to the way Bel whimpered and tried to escape, only tightening his hold. "You should hang out with us! Tsuna and Gokudera won't mind."

Giving up on trying to escape the unwanted hold as it only seemed to make Takeshi hold him tighter, Bel tensed from the uncertainty these words caused him; did Takeshi really mean them…? "…R-really…?"

"Of course! You can be our friend if you want to be."

"…" Looking to his lap, Bel was completely unaware of the way he slowly relaxed into the stronger male's arms. "…I… have never had a friend… Squalo… always said he wanted me to have a friend… But I didn't like anyone enough to want to have friends…"

"Let's be friends, then. Okay?" Smiling down at Bel, Takeshi was glad when he received a hesitant nod a few moments later.

Hayato soon returned after this, raising his eyebrow as he noticed how much Bel's mood had improved since his absence. He took his seat, trying to ignore the way the newcomer's gaze seemed to be fixed on him; what the fuck was wrong with this kid?

"Can I help you?" Not caring for how rude he sounded, Hayato scowled at Bel.

"Hayato is cute." Not understanding why everyone stared at him after this announcement, Bel simply cocked his head to the side, wondering if they all thought the same of himself. "Does Hayato think that I'm cute, too?"

Tsuna was quick to jump over to his friend and put his hand over Hayato's mouth in order to silence him; he knew that nothing friendly would come out of the silver-haired teen's mouth. Shaking his head at the other, he hoped Hayato would understand that the brunet didn't want him to reply; Tsuna wouldn't be able to bear it if the volatile teen were to upset their new friend.

It was Takeshi who replied to Bel, in a very calm manner. "Do you like boys, Bel?"

Bel nodded, feeling a tad more comfortable with the younger group; they had been so nice to him… "I like girls, too. Squ-Squ says I'm not supposed to watch the adult movies on the internet, but I do anyway; they make me really hard, and it feels good when I touch myself when I'm hard."

While Tsuna blushed scarlet at these words, too shy to know how to reply, Takeshi simply laughed, as friendly as ever. "That's good, then, Bel. But you know, you're supposed to keep those thoughts to yourself; you shouldn't tell them to your friends."

"Why not?" A little confused, Bel cocked his head to the side. "I tell Squ-Squ when I'm hard, and he knows when I go to masturbate; sometimes he tells me to do it when I feel bad."

"Yes, but that's Squalo," Takeshi explained in a gentle manner. "He's your guardian; you can talk to him about those things, but we are your friends; we shouldn't tell each other about that. Alright?"

"Okay." Looking back at Hayato, Bel repeated his original question. "Does Hayato think I'm cute?"

"U-umm, Bel, let's not ask Gokudera-kun things like that." Tsuna smiled shyly, knowing how agitated his best friend was getting. "He doesn't like these kinds of conversations."

Nodding, Bel reached down to pick at his striped socks. He remained silent at this, finished with sharing his train of thought; now he wanted to listen quietly to what the others were talking about. He couldn't help but slowly feel comfortable around them enough to add in his own thoughts on the topic on occasion, but he much preferred to listen; it was less stressful for him that way.

"Hey, Bel."

Humming as he heard his name, Bel looked up from the floorboards he had been picking at. He found Tsuna and Takeshi looking at him, so waiting for them to continue on, he remained silent.

"Do you want to stay the night here with us?"

Bel sucked in a sharp breath at this, not sure how to reply; he suddenly felt very nervous. Clenching his hands, he tensed as he said, "…I… always sleep with Squ-Squ… I get… scared at night…"

Takeshi jumped to his feet at this, disappearing for a few minutes before returning with something brown and fluffy in his hands. Passing it over to his new friend, he said, "Sleep with Jiro, Bel; he's a big snuggler."

Bel looked down at the puppy that had been shoved in his arms. It was small, brown and white fur fluffing up from its body. It looked up at him with trusting eyes, its curled tail wagging against his stomach. "…"

"Do you like him?" Takeshi sat beside the blond, scratching his pet behind the ear. "My pop gave him to me as a gift. He's not very old, but he loves people."

Bel hugged the animal tight to him, having never been around puppies before; he had never had a pet, and he had only really ever been around Dino's turtle. "…Can I sleep with him, Takeshi…?"

"Of course you can. He'll keep you safe."

"Then I want to stay. Can I get my blanket from home? I can't sleep without it."

Nodding, Takeshi was just glad that Bel was staying; as socially inept as he was, he was quickly learning how to feel comfortable around the trio. "You can get whatever you want from home."

Pulling his phone from his pocket, Bel sent a quick text to his guardian, asking for his blanket and pillow. Speaking to his new friends, he said, "I want to sleep in here with you."

"I'll set up a futon for you soon, Bel."

"Okay. I have to masturbate before bed; it helps me sleep."

Ignoring the frustrated grunt Hayato made, Takeshi just nodded. "That's fine, Bel. The bathroom is just across the hall. You can do that whenever you need to; just make sure you wash your hands and clean up after yourself, please.'

"I will." Laying on his back, Bel let the puppy rest on his chest. He giggled as it licked his cheek, happy that it seemed to like him already. He was glad he had decided to come here tonight, because even though it had messed up his routine, he was having fun.

Hopefully Squalo would be stoked when Bel told him he had made friends.