When Fran awoke the next morning, it was to his bedroom door closing and footsteps approaching his bed. He opened his eyes to see who it was, expecting for Mukuro to be coming to wake him up for breakfast, but instead he came face-to-face with a face full of blond hair and a grinning mouth that revealed pearly white teeth.

"Bel-senpai…?" Fran let out a yawn as he sat up. "Bel-senpai, is your arm okay?"

"Ushishishi~ Is Froggy worried about his senpai~?" Bel's grin only became wider, as if he were amused by the younger's concern. Fran couldn't help but think that right now, the blond was acting differently, not the same angry and loathing boy he had known – instead, this one seemed almost… innocent.

At least, as innocent as that unnerving grin made him appear.

Fran closed his eyes when warm arms wrapped around him and nestled into Bel's chest; he was welcoming the embrace from the blond, no matter how unexpected it was – Bel really was acting differently... "…"

The boy didn't seem to care about the silence that had fallen within the room. He rested his chin on top of teal hair as he stared at the wall in front of him. His head was a little clouded and he didn't feel as if he could think straight; he had been pumped so full of morphine at the hospital, he felt completely out of touch with himself, feeling emotion and desire within him he couldn't otherwise feel without the painkillers distorting his cognitive abilities.

There was silence between the two as Bel ran his hand up and down Fran's side and shuddering beneath the touch of the younger's fabric against his fingertips. He licked his lips as he stared down at the child almost asleep once again in his arms; how easily it would be to take advantage of him right now…

But Bel didn't feel like hurting the other, and instead he wanted to know what it was like to have consent for once; he was feeling cheerful for once, and he didn't want his good mood to be ruined by the screaming and tears he knew Fran would make if he were to force the other down and take him roughly the way he dreamed of doing when no one else was around to stop him.

"Hey, Froggy?" Bel lifted his chin from Fran's hair and looked down at him.

"Hm?" The child didn't open his eyes.

"You should be the prince's boyfriend."

It took Fran a few seconds to register what the teenager had said. He didn't understand the suggestion; what was a boyfriend? "…Huh?"

"Ushishishi~ You know, be the prince's Froggy – his boyfriend!"

In Fran's sheltered existence, he had never encountered a 'boyfriend'. In fact, he hadn't encountered a lot of things, having been used purely for pleasure and then thrown back into the dirty cage he was kept in. There was so much he didn't understand, and what Bel was asking of him was proof of the neglect he had been put through for so long.

"What does a boyfriend do?" Fran asked.

He doesn't know what a boyfriend is? Bel laughed inwardly to himself at the thought. How does he not know? "Boyfriends kiss and touch each other."

"Oh." Fran couldn't see much appeal in such a thing but if it would make Bel happy, he would oblige. "Okay. Have you had a boyfriend before, Bel-senpai?"

"Nope." The boy rested his chin on teal hair once more. "Never liked anyone enough to want it."

"Does that mean you like me?"

"Yup. You're the prince's Froggy now."

Fran was still oblivious to the expectations of a boyfriend so, when hot lips pressed against his own, his eyes widened and he pulled away as his past experiences told him something unwanted was about to happen.

"B-bel-senpai…" Tears welled up in Fran's eyes as he hiccupped softly, the memories upsetting him. "W-what are you doing…?"

"Kissing Froggy." Bel smiled. "Does Froggy not like it?"

"You scared me…" The younger whispered. "I thought…"

Bel knew what had scared Fran; the sudden feel of something against his lips would have jogged the memories of the abuse. It was something he could understand himself, after all; the same thing happened to him when people put their hands on his body, however innocently. "The prince will kiss his Froggy again and he can see there's nothing to fear. Close your eyes."

Fran hesitantly did as told. He whimpered quietly when something pressed against his lips, but he didn't pull away; he instead let it happen, wanting to be able to trust Bel.

When the blond pulled away, he smiled. "Can the prince kiss Froggy more? You have to open your mouth this time."

Fran was curious as to why his mouth needed to be opened but he felt himself trusting Bel not to hurt him; this wasn't the same boy who had tried to abuse him because this Bel was different, and Fran felt as if he could trust him now. He didn't move when Bel's face came closer to his, but when he felt something wet enter his mouth, he jumped and let out a whimper; he remembered all too clearly what the men he had lived with used to force into his mouth. He tried to pull away as tears started to slide down his cheeks, but unlike the men who had only ever made it worse for him, the blond pulled away.

"Don't be scared, Froggy," Bel whispered as he nuzzled his cheek against Fran's. "The prince won't hurt you. You just need to trust him."

Fran nodded, wanting desperately for his trust in someone to be right. His body started to tremble as Bel slowly laid him down on the mattress beneath them. He closed his eyes and turned his head to the side. He flinched when he felt the boy grab his face and turn it back to his, and when he opened his eyes, he found that Bel was smiling down at him with that crooked grin of his before the stronger male slowly leant down and connected their mouths again. His body was tense, but despite it, when he felt a tongue enter his mouth again to rub against his, he tried to reciprocate.

The blond was overjoyed his kiss was being returned, and he couldn't stop himself from running his hands all over Fran's body and tasting every inch of the child's mouth. His groin was growing hard as he realised how the other was relaxing beneath his touches, and all he wanted in that moment was to ravish the teal-haired male.

Bel broke the kiss before he started planting soft kisses against Fran's face. "Did you like that, Froggy?"

Fran nodded. He reached up and grabbed Bel's shoulders in a dazed manner before he uttered, "I… I feel… strange…"

"Hmm?" Bel smirked in knowing; he knew that their kisses had been arousing for the young boy, and he couldn't help but play along. "Strange?"

Fran nodded. He sat up when he was pulled to sit on Bel's lap, and he moaned as the tightness of his pants became apparent. This had never happened to him before and he didn't know what was happening; all he knew was that when he ghosted his hand over his crotch, a jolt of pleasure shot through his body. He looked up with hazy eyes and whispered, "W-what's wrong with me…?"

Bel licked his lips in need. "It's nothing bad, Froggy. Just touch yourself and it will go away."

Fran nodded. He lowered his hand so that it rested on thin material once more, but he didn't move them; he didn't understand what he was supposed to be doing. He gasped in surprise as bigger hands suddenly pushed his own away so that they could pull his pants down to his thighs; he felt uncomfortable with his boyhood hanging out in the air for Bel's eyes to devour.

"That's better," Bel whispered into Fran's ear. His hot breath made the boy shiver, and it only aroused him further. "Now I can watch."

Fran shyly fondled his boyhood as he whimpered and moaned at pleasure he had never experienced before. Bel continued to lick his lips as he focused his gaze on those tiny hands, ignoring his own hardness; his pleasure could wait because he wanted to enjoy this for as long as he could.

"Does it feel good…?" Bel whispered. He groaned quietly as Fran shifted and rubbed against him. "Oh, f-fuck..."

"Bel…senpai…" Fran let out another whimper as the pleasure within him intensified, but before anything more could happen, the bedroom door was opened and a head of silver hair poked into the room.

"Hey, Gaylord Luss told me to – Voi! What the fuck is going on here?!"

Fran whimpered and curled into Bel's arms so that his back was to the angry man. He should have known it was bad to touch himself after everything he had been through, but it had felt so good he didn't even think of that…! Tears welled up in his eyes as he started shaking, small sobs escaping every now and then. Bel's arms were wrapped around him protectively but nothing came out of the blond's mouth; all he could manage was an agitated sneer.

Squalo stomped over to the bed and tried to snatch Fran away, but Bel was persistent; he had no intentions of letting go, and within seconds it became a tug-of-war for Fran. The child, however, couldn't take the sudden onslaught of distress and started screaming.

People came to stand in the doorway to see what was happening, and it was easy enough to work out that something sexual had been happening between Fran and Bel previously as the teal-haired child's now half-hard member hung out and the teenager's pants were tented. Xanxus was the one to push past the crowd at the sight so that he could punch the blond in the face as hard as he could to make the younger let go of Fran.

Bel grabbed his face as pain spread throughout his nervous system. He looked through the cracks of his fingers in time to see Squalo adjusting his hold on Fran so that he tuck Fran back into his pants.

Xanxus looked as if he were about to kill somebody – namely Bel in this situation. He growled for Squalo to shut the door and, once the other had done so, he reached out and slammed Bel into the wall hard enough to make the younger's head spin. He held the blond against it by the shoulders as he snarled, "What the fuck has gotten into you, trash?"

Bel glared defiantly at the dark-haired man before he spoke. "Froggy is the prince's boyfriend now so the prince may do with him as the prince wishes."

Squalo slapped the boy across the face in disgust; how could Bel think that way?! "One; Fran is nine, two; he's already been molested enough as it is, and three; you've done nothing but take advantage of him."

"The prince didn't hurt him," Bel spat back. "He liked it. The prince was kind enough to let Froggy touch himself so he didn't get scared."

"He's nine!" Xanxus roared. "You filthy piece of trash!"

"So what? Froggy is the prince's boyfriend!"

"Voi! You're not a fucking prince!" Squalo shouted. "We're all sick of hearing you refer to yourself as one! You're nothing but lowlife scum, getting off watching Fran touch himself!"

All through this, Fran had been curled against Squalo's chest with his eyes wide as he held his hands over his ears. He was horrified by the fighting, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't block any of the noise out. "Stop fighting! Stop!"

"Fran, how did this start?" Squalo growled, trying to get the facts; he knew it wasn't fair on Bel to treat him so badly after this – they had honestly expected such things from the boy due to his own abuse, as much as they had all hoped it would never come to this.

Fran sobbed as he tried to explain that it was all his fault everyone was mad; he shouldn't have touched himself to begin with, much less in front of Bel.

"…B-bel-senpai… asked for us to be boyfriends…" Fran curled tighter into a ball, wanting to disappear. "…W-we started to… k-kiss… B-bel-senpai didn't do anything I didn't want… I-it's not his fault… I didn't know what was wrong with me. I told him I felt strange because I did! …A-all he did was tell me how to make it stop feeling weird… It's my fault – I won't ever touch myself again! I promise! J-just stop yelling at us!"

Xanxus and Squalo looked at each other before they turned to Bel, both of their expressions softening but still angry about the situation.

"Listen, trash…" Xanxus leant in close as he spoke to Bel, "…he's nine. I don't care if you're gay or whatever, but he is not your boyfriend, you fucking pedo. You do not kiss him, do not touch him and most of all, do not have intercourse with him, consent or not, or else I really will kill you."

Bel, who was hurting over being told he wasn't a prince, spat, "The prince will do as he wishes."

Squalo, who was softer than Xanxus, whispered to Fran, "Fran, it's okay if you touch yourself because most males do, but you're young and shouldn't have a boyfriend."

"But…" More tears flowed as Fran sniffed. "…I… I-I want Bel-senpai to be my boyfriend… I-I like it when we kiss…"

What's the right thing to do here? Squalo thought to himself as he looked at the three males in the room. He's young and not ready for this, but… Bel – whether or not it's from the painkillers – has finally taken a huge step and allowed someone into his life… Will taking away Fran result in a step back? Or if we allow him to have Fran, what will be the result for him…? They're both so damaged… Maybe we should allow this… to an extent…

"Voi, Xanxus." Squalo got his boss' attention before he nodded at Bel who was now sitting on the bed, glaring angrily at the two. "Maybe it'll help with the trauma if we let them be."

Xanxus grunted before he shrugged. "Whatever." Turning to Bel, he added, "If you dare do one thing he doesn't consent to, you're dead meat. Keep it at holding hands until he's older, trash."

Squalo hesitantly passed the shivering boy back to Bel. He bit his lip as he did so; he could only hope he was doing the right thing here – he'd definitely get the others to help monitor the situation because he certainly didn't want to find out that he had made a mistake in his judgement and allowed Fran to get hurt.

The kid snuggled in against Bel, relieved to be back in the teenager's arms; he had been so stressed by the fighting and hadn't been able to cope. The blond wrapped his arms tight around the shaking body and rested his chin on the boy's hair, humming in contentment; he was just glad to have his Froggy back.

"I'm sorry I got you into trouble…" Fran whispered. He blinked when a finger rested under his chin and tilted his head up; what did that kind of touch mean?

"It wasn't the Frog's fault; Froggy did nothing wrong," Bel whispered back. With that said, he crushed their lips together again and licked the other's lips as he asked for access. Fran was only too happy to let the roaming organ into his mouth, but he couldn't keep the kiss lasting for long; he had to pull away for air after just a few seconds. After they broke apart, Bel pushed Fran back onto the mattress. "Froggy, the prince is tired. He's going to sleep. Wake him up for lunch."

Fran nodded as he watched Bel get into his own bed. He was feeling uncomfortable once again in his stomach, and he wondered whether or not he should touch himself again – both Squalo and Bel had said it was okay, but…

Biting his lip as a dull throbbing feeling made itself known between his legs, Fran blushed as he moved to the bathroom, hoping no one was in there so he could take care of himself.