You shouldn't blame yourself, Dino-san; it's not your fault this happened.

I made him feel as if he had no choice but to come back to Italy… He only wanted to stay in Japan with Hayato, but he came back for me…

Bel's eyes fluttered beneath his bangs. He could hear voices surrounding him, but he figured he must be dreaming; he knew he would wake up and find himself back in the basement of Xanxus' house.

Sorry for intruding; I'm going to give Belphegor-san another dose of morphine.

Bel stared blankly ahead, but he didn't register his surroundings; not until there was a prick on his arm and his muscles tensed in response. He felt someone squeeze his hand, and it was then he let his head loll to the side so that he could see who was touching him. He blinked repeatedly when a hand reached out to brush his bangs away from his face, but he didn't react; he just found himself looking at Gokudera in confusion; why was Gokudera here in Xanxus' basement…? Had Xanxus gotten Gokudera, too…?

"You're awake…" Gokudera sounded choked, as if he were fighting back tears. He heard his companions shuffling around in the background, but he didn't look at them; he instead leant down to place a soft kiss against his boyfriend's forehead. "I thought you were never going to wake up…"

Bel didn't move; he simply continued to stare at Gokudera blankly. He couldn't understand what was going on; had Xanxus redecorated as he slept…? The walls were blindingly white, and there was actually a window here now, showing him the black sky outside. He cocked his head to the side; Xanxus sure did redecorate quickly…

Gokudera sat on the edge of the bed. He was gentler than ever as he run his hand through dirty golden locks. He licked his lips anxiously for several seconds before he spoke in a voice so quiet, he may as well have been whispering. "I had a talk with Dino, and we've all decided that it'll be best for you to come back to Japan. As soon as you're feeling better, we're going to go home together."

Bel blinked. His eyes were hazy as he tried to understand what the other was talking about; he couldn't go back to Japan because Xanxus wouldn't let him.

"I don't think he's understanding, Gokudera…"

Bel twitched as a wave of pain went up his spine. He was surprised; why was Yamamoto here, too?

A heartbroken expression crossed Gokudera's face at these words, as if he desperately didn't want to believe what he knew was true. He leant down so that he could bury his face against Bel's chest, wishing he knew what to do. "Bel…"

"Do you want to tell him, Gokudera? He deserves to know…"

Gokudera shook his head. He got off the bed and backed away so that Yamamoto could take his place instead. The taller male was tender as he took Bel's hand in both of his. "Bel… I got good news for you… We got you away from Xanxus… You're safe now…"

Bel blinked; away… from Xanxus…? Well, maybe that was why his new prison didn't look like a basement anymore.

"The bad news is… He shot you in the head… The nurses say you have brain damage, Bel… And they don't know… if you'll… be okay…"

Those words meant nothing to Bel; he was more concerned with trying to work out who was holding his hand and why Gokudera was leaving him with a stranger. He was sure he knew the other male from somewhere, but he couldn't… remember…

Bel pulled his hand away from Takeshi's so that he could instead reach back out to Gokudera. He stared at the silver-haired male until he felt someone touch his shoulder. He growled in agitation, not caring to see who it was; he didn't want to be touched like that; he just wanted his boyfriend to hold his hand.

"Bel, don't you remember Yamamoto?"Gokudera gestured to the taller male. "He's our friend; we all went to school together. When Yamamoto and I started working, you would go to his house to keep his dog company so you weren't alone. Remember?"

Bel couldn't remember anything like that, but he didn't try very hard to, either; halfway through Gokudera's words, his attention had started drifting to the IV cords connected to his arm. He tugged at them, but when his boyfriend tried to pull his hand away, he made a frustrated sound and started to struggle.

Gokudera had never looked as lost as he did now when he turned around to face his friends. He closed his eyes and forced his voice to remain steady, not wanting the others to know just how close to crying he was. He mumbled something about needing fresh air, but Yamamoto and Tsuna weren't stupid; they went with their friend so that the silver-haired male could talk to them about his sadness.

Bel barely noticed the last two figures standing at the back of the room; he had given up on trying to pull the tubes from his arm and instead was picking at his blanket. He didn't even hear them as they left the room without a word; his attention was focused on his blanket and there was no room for anything else.

~~XX~~

Come the next morning, Bel was already awake and staring out of the window when the door to his room opened. He didn't notice it; he was watching the birds on the windowsill.

"Belphegor-san, how are you feeling?"

Again, Bel paid no attention to the nurse who was approaching him; he opened his mouth slightly as one of the birds started chirping.

"Belphegor-san, you have an injured spinal cord and your rectum still hasn't healed properly; it's too soon for you to be sitting up like that." As gentle as the woman was trying to be towards her patient, Bel still threw a fit when she tried to lay him back down on the mattress. He twisted and turned to get away from her hands, but he quickly froze as his eyes widened and a scream tore itself from his throat; sudden pain travelled up his spine, and he couldn't be sure, but he thought there was blood staining the bed beneath him.

"Belphegor-san! Please lay back down before you hurt yourself more!"

Bel was too weak to resist against being forced back down onto his side, and when his hospital gown was lifted past his stomach, he started screaming again; no more – oh god no more!

"Bel!"

Through the terror that was enveloping Bel in its cold embrace, Gokudera's voice broke him from his trance. He cried loudly as he reached out to his boyfriend, and when warm arms wrapped around him and held him close, he slowly started calming down until he felt almost empty inside. A stoic expression crossed his face as he stared at the doorway Gokudera had come from; thank god the younger was here to rescue him.

"Bel, what did you do?" Gokudera hated to see the blood that was soaking through the smaller male's pants. He looked up at the nurse in a slight panic; had something happened in his absence…?

"He must have torn his stitches; I need you to hold him on his side so I can examine him."

While Bel lay quietly on the younger's lap, he started kicking out and making angry sounds as he felt the nurse's hands on his bottom. Gokudera knew the woman wasn't going to make any progress, and all he could suggest was cleaning the blood away for now and waiting until Bel had gone back to sleep before sedating him and fixing the stitches.

"Let me clean him up; I'm his boyfriend and he used to trust me touching him around there." Gokudera was glad the nurse was understanding and didn't judge them as she handed over a cloth; he instead gave comforting words to the blond as he slowly wiped away the blood. Bel didn't try and pull away; he instead had his head tilted to the side so that he could stare at his boyfriend's face.

"Hold clean cloth against him until the bleeding stops, and then make sure he lays down, okay? I'll get you more cloths and then give you privacy."

Gokudera nodded. He did as he was told, and once Bel was ready, laid the blond back down in bed and covered him with the blankets. He lay next to the older male as he slowly brushed golden bangs from the other's face. "I spoke to Dino and Squalo, and they've agreed that it's best to bring you back to Japan. We'll go back to our apartment again and Yamamoto will make us lots of sushi. Would you like that, sweetheart?"

Bel snuggled in against the silver-haired male. He made a soft sound as his eyes closed and he felt sleep starting to take over him. Gokudera held him close, letting Bel sleep; he had been through a lot and deserved all the rest in the world.

Gokudera couldn't wait for Bel to be released from the hospital; the sooner he could get him back to Japan, the better.