Within the week that had passed by, Kyouya had slowly found himself tolerating Belphegor bit-by-bit with each day, and was coming to accept the blond for whom he was; a broken teenager who had only wanted love and affection but instead was cursed with pain and suffering. It was certainly different looking after him than Mukuro and Fran, but the skylark understood; the youngest two had been lucky in that their lives had improved greatly ever since Mammon took them in, but Belphegor's had steadily grown worse for him.

Today, while Namimori Middle had the day off school, Kyouya was sitting at home while Mukuro and Fran still had to attend Kokuyo. He was in the living room with Belphegor, reading a book while the blond watched TV. The Prefect's attention was soon drawn by the other emitting a soft whimper, and immediately Kyouya understood that the older male was in pain.

Getting up from the couch, Kyouya moved to his guest's bag. He grabbed the bottle of acetaminophen and the dropper from inside it, standing back up to sit on the edge of the couch. Unscrewing the cap, the younger male was cautious about how much medicine he filled the dropper with, knowing that an overdose would cause serious damage if it didn't kill Belphegor first.

"Open." Holding the dropper by pale lips, Kyouya was pleased when the other didn't hesitate to do as told; the skylark wasn't entirely sure of what he had done, but something had changed between them to allow the blond to trust him with things like this. Squeezing the medicine out of the dropper and into Belphegor's mouth, he waited patiently until the thinner male stopped licking at the object and pulled his mouth away, a silent explanation that he had gotten every last bit.

Putting his hands on shaking shoulders, Kyouya pushed the other back down onto his back before covering him with the blanket, knowing that exerting himself so much wasn't good for the older male. Returning back to his spot, it fell silent once again, something the Prefect was very much enjoying.

The peaceful atmosphere was broken just ten minutes later when the doorbell rang and Mammon came from somewhere in the house to answer it. Kyouya glanced to his left to see who was here, only to turn back to his book, uninterested at the sight of Squalo stepping into the house.

"How's he been?" Squalo was quiet, anxiety clear in his voice as his eyes darted towards the living room. "He has trouble feeding sometimes; has he eaten okay?"

"He's been fine, Squalo," Mammon reassured her friend. "He's had plenty of love and rest."

Squalo nodded, not entirely convinced until he saw his charge for himself. Stepping into the living room, his usually-hard eyes softened as he found Belphegor struggling to push himself upright. He quickened his pace, kneeling by the couch as he reached out to embrace the boy tight. The blond made a soft noise as he returned the hug, his fingers curled tight into the man's black jacket as if he never wanted to let go again.

"Fuck, I missed you, brat…" Squalo murmured, threading his gloved fingers through hair that had once shone a radiant gold but now was nothing but dirty, matted locks. "I couldn't bring you with me because it wouldn't have been very good for you."

Hiding his face against his guardian's shoulder, Belphegor made another noise as he tried to will his body into moving closer; there was no one he loved more than Squalo, no one that could make him feel as safe and as loved as the long-haired man did.

Kyouya watched the two, not understanding why he felt warm watching their interactions; was it because he wasn't used to seeing such genuine love? His own parents had certainly never acted this way with him, and he had to admit it came as a bit of a surprise to see such a strong bond between two people who weren't even blood-related; how could these two love each other more than some parents did their own kids? Belphegor had been a street urchin, taken in by someone who would still have been a teenager himself at the time; perhaps their relationship was more brotherly than one of a parent-child?

But… Come to think of it, Kyouya had never seen Mammon act this way towards her own kids – in fact, they hardly interacted at all anymore because the two younger teenagers were always with Kyouya or Tsunayoshi's group. Was that normal behaviour? It was certainly closer to what Kyouya had experienced, but he could tell that in her own way, Mammon did care about Mukuro and Fran, though he might not go as far as to say she loved them; she was such a distant person, he wasn't even sure if she loved Fon or not.

"Look at what I have for you, Bel."

Kyouya was snapped out of his thoughts by Squalo's voice, finding the man pulling something out of his jacket pocket.

"I got you some chocolate milk." Squalo shook the bottle before he twisted the cap, a gentle expression crossing his face as he noticed the way Belphegor had immediately perked up and smiled brightly at these words. "Want to try and have some without a straw today? You don't need that shit, Bel."

Belphegor nodded, letting his lips part. He reached out, gripping his guardian's sleeve as he tipped his head back slightly, letting the bottle ghost against his lips. He moaned softly as he relished the taste of his favourite drink, swallowing everything he could get into his mouth in a greedy manner. He refused to let go of Squalo's sleeve, tugging him closer as he tried to tell the other he wanted more; it had been so long since he had had chocolate milk, it tasted better than he ever remembered it being.

When Belphegor finally turned his head to break away from the treat, Squalo put the cap back on the bottle and placed it in the bag by his feet. He chuckled at the milk that slowly rolled down a pale chin, reaching out to wipe it away with his thumb.

"I'll give you some ice cream when we get home, too." Squalo didn't mind the single arm that wrapped around him again in joy, unmoving as the boy pressed his lips to his cheek; it didn't bother him, having long-since gotten used to the other's strange shows of affection. "You can't have too much, though, alright?"

Rubbing his cheek against Squalo's, Belphegor purred in delight, loving when the silver-haired male spoiled him; it made him feel special, and like life was worth living if it meant having someone there to shower him with the affection he had forever craved.

Kyouya didn't understand why the older male was suddenly acting as if everything was lollipops and rainbows; the blond had done nothing but cry for the past week and now he was like a kitten; did he really love Squalo that much? But why hadn't he acted like this around Fran or Mukuro?

It was then Kyouya wondered; if Belphegor had been taken in just like he had been by his uncle, why was it that the blond could be so open with Squalo while Kyouya was still as closed off as ever? The other student had clearly had a very hard time with life, but he still seemed to be childish and innocent around his guardian, whereas Kyouya refused to allow himself to so much as hint that he appreciated his uncle as much as he did.

"Squalo, you look exhausted."

Kyouya blinked and looked back to Mammon, finding the woman putting her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"You haven't been sleeping, have you?"

Squalo shook his head, too tired to deny this. He shrugged before he lifted his hand again, patting blond locks gently. "I've been too busy to sleep, and this shithead here…" Dropping his cheek against his charge's head, the man sighed. "I've been worried about him; I just got him out of the hospital and then I had to leave him again…"

"He's been fine," Mammon promised. "Sleep on the couch before you leave; you look like you'll fall asleep any minute."

Squalo nodded, moving so that he could lie back on the couch. He let Belphegor squirm around for a few seconds before he relaxed, the boy's head resting on his strong chest with crooked fingers gripping tightly to Squalo's jacket.

Caressing the younger's head, Squalo was fast to fall asleep, absolutely exhausted from so many sleepless nights. Belphegor didn't take long to follow after him, at peace now that he was back with his guardian.

Kyouya watched them for a few minutes before he stood up and went to his room, making a mental note to tell Fon that he appreciated him the next time he saw his uncle. He hadn't thought of it before, but having watched the older two had made him realise that he was taking the handful of people close to him for granted; he was constantly pushing them away and putting barriers around himself to stop him from getting hurt, but what if something happened and he never got a chance to truly become close to them? For all this time he had used his parents' treatment as a scapegoat for the way he was, but having seen that Belphegor didn't hesitate to show how much he loved, even after everything he had been through…

Was it possible that one day Kyouya, too, would be able to smile and act so freely around the ones he cared for most?