Bel didn't know how much time had passed before the basement door opened and footsteps started coming down the stairs; there were no windows down here, so he had no idea whether it had been minutes, hours or even days since he had been taken away from his home. He was frightened, and the fact that he lay curled up in the corner trembling gave it away.

It was the man – who, now that there was light to make out the other's features – with long, blue hair who leant down and grabbed Bel's face, smearing his fingers into the blood and semen that clung stubbornly to the blond's flesh. The man looked into scared purple eyes before he sneered, drinking in the sight of Bel's hair that was more tousled than usual and sticking to his forehead and scalp from blood and gunk. There were bags beneath the smaller male's eyes, testimony to the fact that the scared male hadn't slept at all ever since his kidnapping.

"You are pretty cute." The man cupped Bel's face with his hands before he leant forward to rest their foreheads together. There was malice in his voice, disguised behind polite, kind words, but the blond knew better; he knew that whoever this man was, he had no intention of being gentle. "Not as cute as my Fran, though; hopefully we will be able to get him today, and then you might have some company."

Bel's eyes widened at these words as it all made sense now; this was the man who had haunted Fran, who had hurt him and gotten him taken away from Dino. This man was the pineapple man, and he had gone out of his way to not only cause suffering for Fran, but for the person closest to Fran, too.

This man standing before Bel was Mukuro, and though the blond had promised to protect his little friend against him, it was useless; there was nothing Bel could do except lay here and cry.

Mukuro hadn't missed the way Bel's eyes widened. A sneer slowly crossed his face as he grabbed a handful of blond locks and pulled hard enough to earn a whimper from his victim. "Do you happen to know my Fran?"

Bel knew he shouldn't admit anything, but for reasons even he didn't understand, he nodded and looked to the side. He regretted it instantly as joy flashed through those heterochromatic eyes the damaged man was already starting to hate; what kind of sadistic plot did Mukuro have in mind?

"You don't talk much, do you?" The long-haired man wrapped his hand around Bel's throat and squeezed in a silent warning that he wasn't playing around. In a mock curious tone, he said, "I wonder why that is."

"It's because I had my hands on him when he was a kid."

While Bel became more panicked at Xanxus' voice, Mukuro instead gave a chuckle. "Kufufu~ What did you even do to him? He's broken. No wonder he's useless and unloved."

Those words cut through Bel like a knife, but he couldn't think on them for too long because already, Xanxus was running at him. Before he could even prepare himself, the man kicked his prisoner against the side of his face. The blond was knocked backwards at the force, and his trembling became more violent as he cried harder; he wanted to go back home, but he knew he wouldn't be allowed to; he remembered what Xanxus was like, and the other wouldn't be happy until he had completely shattered what was left of his victim's sanity like he had to Squalo.

"I believe he knows my Fran, Xanxus." Mukuro looked up at Xanxus and smiled. "I would like to bring Fran back to see him so that he knows I love him; I would never do to him what I will to Belphegor."

Xanxus sneered as he nodded. "That would be quite amusing; I'll have my fun with the blond trash."

"Fran is down with his foster family; I will lead you to him." The blue-haired male got up and moved to the doorway. He sent a deceivingly-kind smile to Belphegor, taunting the older male just that little bit more. "Have fun."

Xanxus' sneer widened before he followed the younger out of the room, leaving Belphegor to drag himself with one arm back into the corner so he could curl up in a foetal position and rock back and forth; he wanted to go back to Dino and Squalo, but he didn't think that would happen; Xanxus wasn't the kind of person to let go of his toys; not until he was dumping their cold, rigid bodies into a ditch.

~~XX~~

Once again, an undeterminable amount of time had passed before Bel's company returned. He could hear Mukuro talking to someone, and though he peered up the stairs to see who the other was talking to, it wasn't until his visitors had made it to the bottom of the staircase did he really make anything out. To his heartbreak, he realised that Mukuro hadn't been lying, and Fran was indeed standing just metres away from him.

"Bel-senpai...?"

Fran's distraught voice broke Bel's heart, but he couldn't do anything about it; he could barely even move. He groaned quietly in pain as he heard the younger male running to his side, but even when he felt hands on his shaking shoulders, all he could do was lay there and try to register what was happening; his head was swimming from nausea, and nothing was really making sense to him anymore.

"Bel-senpai, are you okay…?"

Bel licked his lips at the question. His mouth opened and closed wordlessly as he finally tried to move closer to the younger; he needed his friend's presence, too afraid to be without it. "..."

"He does not talk much, does he?" Mukuro laughed in a mocking manner as he knelt down as well so that he could run his finger along Belphegor's lips. "Can he talk at all?"

"It's not that he can't talk; it's that he won't talk."

Bel closed his eyes as he listened to Fran trying to defend him against Mukuro. This wasn't right; it should be Bel protecting Fran…! Not… Not like this…!

"He won't talk because of creeps like yourself. I hate what you've done to him – what you've done to me. What did we ever do to people like you?"

Mukuro laughed again. He watched the boy brush a soothing hand against Belphegor's cheek before he said in a taunting manner, "You talk so big for a child; no wonder no one but myself has ever wanted you. You are cute, but when you open your mouth, you ruin yourself. You are the reason you are unloved; you make everyone hate you because you are such a cheeky little brat. I bet even Belphegor cannot stand you, but obviously he is too retarded to tell you so."

That accusation bothered Bel, but he was too weak to be able to really think much about it; he could feel his consciousness dipping in and out, and it made it hard for him to focus much on what was happening. He pulled his knees to his stomach before he nuzzled his cheek against Fran's hand, as if he were trying to tell the younger what Mukuro was saying wasn't true.

"I know my senpai," Fran argued. "He gets very annoyed easily, but he doesn't hate me; if he hated me, he wouldn't message me constantly on Facebook, even if I don't reply to him. He wouldn't tolerate me making fun of him all the time, and he wouldn't constantly drag me back to his home so he has someone to play with."

Mukuro sneered at this, not liking to hear that someone else was fond of his Fran; the boy was his, and he wouldn't share him with anyone.

Bel squirmed and whimpered as someone grabbed his nose and squeezed hard, cutting off his air. "You think you can take my little one from me, Belphegor? I should kill you here and now."

"Don't touch him!" Fran shoved at the long-haired man as he felt himself become overwhelmed by fear; he was terrified of the one who had done so much to him, but he couldn't let Bel get hurt – not when he knew Mukuro would keep to his promise and slit the blond's throat here and now without hesitation. "He's my friend! He's not trying to take anyone away; he's just lonely... Like I am..."

Mukuro offered a soft chuckle as his gentle appearance changed to one of aggression in a split second. He slammed Belphegor's head into the cement ground hard enough for a puddle of blood to pool around golden locks within moments. Fran looked horrified, and the blond's whimpers and cries of fear and pain only made the long-haired man more satisfied with his handiwork.

"Oya, Belphegor, you should not be afraid of me; it is Xanxus who will deal with you. You remember what he did to you, don't you? He told me himself; he came to your school and said he had to pick you up and take you to the dentist because Squalo was busy. Instead he took you home and fucked you so much, you had to go to hospital because of the damage he caused. You were all alone with him for hours, and it only stopped because Squalo came home. It was then you stopped talking, wasn't it? He fucked your head as well as your body."

Belphegor's breathing became heavier and tears flowed down his cheeks as he remembered the very same thing that haunted his mind at night. He curled up into a tight ball and shrugged Fran's hands off him as he cried, not wanting to be touched.

"Senpai..." Fran wished he could do something for his friend, but he knew there was nothing he could do – not now, not in this situation. "..."

"Come upstairs with me, little one," Mukuro said in a gentle tone, taking the boy's hand in his. "I want to take you again."

Fran struggled, but he was powerless against the man; as hard as he tried to stay with Belphegor, he was dragged away to a fate he had never wanted in the first place.

Bel didn't know how long it had taken, but soon enough, he lost consciousness as the black dizziness finally overwhelmed him.