"Cavallone."

Dino looked up from the homework he had been grading, finding Kyouya standing in the doorway of his office. It was early on a Sunday morning, the weather poor as a storm pelted them with strong winds and plenty of rain; the kind of morning Dino would have enjoyed spending in bed with someone in his arms.

"What's wrong, Kyouya?" Putting his pen down on his desk, Dino stood up.

Kyouya was silent for a few seconds before he made his wishes known. "I would like to go back to the teahouse."

Offering a gentle smile, the blond tilted his head to the side. "We can do that; of course, Kyouya. I'm almost done with my grading, so please give me about fifteen minutes."

Kyouya nodded. He left the room, returning a minute later with another chair. Placing it by his teacher's side, he reached out, grabbing a sheet of paper.

Dino couldn't help but relax at the other's presence, finding Kyouya's presence comforting; it had been a long time since he had been around someone like this, and he couldn't help but unwind completely; despite Kyouya's nature, there was just something about the teenager that soothed him in ways no one else could.

"This herbivore needs to study more." Sliding the paper to Dino, Kyouya stared into hazel eyes. "If he spent as much time studying as he does with boxing, he would be very intelligent."

Dino chuckled. "Ryohei's a great kid; he just... has different areas of intelligence. I'm sure he's very smart when it comes to sports instead of grades."

"His grades are horrendous." Putting the paper back where he had gotten it, Kyouya then grabbed the next one. He glanced at the name before he turned around, about to throw the paper into the bin.

"K-kyouya!" Leaning forward to take the paper back, Dino put it safely back in the pile; he knew he shouldn't be letting his student see his classmates' tests, but he couldn't find it in him to say no to the younger; not when they were so close and getting along for once. "You can't just throw out students' papers like that!"

"Why not? You don't need that one."

Dino frowned before he looked at the paper again, finding Belphegor's messy scrawls on the paper. "...Still... Squalo might want to keep that one day when he learns to cope... I'll keep it for him if he wants it."

"Why is everyone making such a big deal out of the herbivore going back to his parents?" Kyouya truly didn't understand this, knowing only that if he were to one day be able to see his parents again, he wouldn't hesitate to do so – how could someone do the complete opposite? "The shark herbivore should mean nothing to him compared to his real parents."

"Is that how you feel about your parents?" Dino didn't miss the spark of emotion that crossed his student's eyes, and he wasn't surprised when the younger fell silent, too. "If you could go back to your parents, you would leave Fon behind in a heartbeat."

"…"

Dino could understand Kyouya's willingness to do so, could see why he looked down on Belphegor for choosing to be with Squalo instead of his parents; Kyouya had had his ripped away from him tragically at a young age while Belphegor still had his around and yet didn't associate with them – of course the skylark would feel angry, jealous even, of a situation he knew nothing about; he wanted his parents back so badly, he couldn't understand or even care to try why someone wouldn't want theirs.

"I'm sure your parents were great people, Kyouya." As gentle as ever, Dino slowly reached out, putting his hand on the teenager's; to his immense surprise, Kyouya allowed the contact. "I have no doubt that they were; if they were anything like Fon, they would have made the world a better place. I can see how much you loved them, and I only wish Bel had reason to love his parents as much as you do."

Kyouya perked up at these words, not understanding; how could one not have reason to love their parents? "…"

"He was badly abused by his parents; he never got love from them like you did from yours. No; instead, he was beaten and put down every day because he's autistic. Even his older twin mistreated him. He ran away when he was eight, and Squalo and I were the ones to find him. So all the love and care he should have gotten from his parents, he got from Squalo instead. As far as Bel's concerned, Squalo is his family. That's why Squalo was trying so hard to keep custody of him; because we're sure he'll only go back into that abuse."

"..." Closing his eyes, Kyouya sighed. "That is unfortunate..."

"It is, but there's nothing we can do now; the court order is placed and if we interfere, we'll be the ones in trouble."

"I miss my parents." Having no idea why he admitted this, Kyouya frowned; why was he showing weakness to someone else?

"I'm sure you do; I miss mine, too."

"Your parents are dead?" Having not expected to hear this, the skylark was taken by surprise; he had expected for Dino to have lived a constantly cosy life with nothing to be upset about - and here he was, finding that the blond was more like him than he had realised.

"Yeah. My mother died when I was about the same age as you when you lost yours. And my dad... He died when I was a teen... I was orphaned and lived in our mansion by myself for years; I had no one but the staff and Squalo to keep me company. It was so lonely, but Squalo and Bel were with me most of the time, so it got better."

"How can you live there without your parents?" Remembering how depressing it had been to have Fon take him home briefly in order to get his belongings, Kyouya felt a tinge of pain run through him; how he hated feeling like he had that same day... "Did you not feel sad?"

"Of course I felt sad, Kyouya; they were my parents and I loved them. But I still had Squalo and all the staff there; I wasn't completely alone. It's like how you still have Fon; we miss our parents, but there are others there to fill the void. I truly am sorry about your parents, Kyouya; I didn't lose mine like you lost yours."

"I don't need your pity, Cavallone; they're gone, and they aren't coming back." With that said, Kyouya got off the seat, making his way towards the doorway of the study. "I will be in the living room. Finish here quickly."

Watching the teenager disappear into the hallway, Dino sighed; how he wished he could take away Kyouya's suffering, but he felt as if he were being worn thin by letting everyone lean on his shoulder; he needed to take care of himself, but Kyouya was important to him, and he wanted to help the student as much as possible.

Finishing quickly with the rest of the tests, Dino soon grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair, heading out to the living room.

"Are you ready, Kyouya?"

Kyouya nodded, putting down the book he had been reading. Standing up, he left the house and seated himself comfortably in his teacher's car, waiting patiently for the blond to get in as well. He couldn't help but replay their last conversation over again, trying to understand something; why had he opened up to the man about something he really wouldn't even talk to his uncle about?

Was it that… Dino was just so approachable, Kyouya felt more comfortable around him than his own uncle…? Was that even possible?

~~XX~~

"It's such a miserable day out there." Sipping at his coffee, Dino sighed.

"Not really; I like when it rains." Kyouya also was looking out of the window at the rain falling gently to the ground, a warm mug of tea in his hands. "I find it comforting."

"The rain?"

Shaking his head, Kyouya clarified. "The clouds."

Smiling, Dino looked down at his lap for a few seconds before he looked back up. "I guess I like sunny days with the sky visible the most."

Humming, the skylark took a sip of his tea. "You still seem upset. Why do you care so much about the blond herbivore?"

"Because Bel is like a little brother to me, and I know he won't be happy with his family; they'll hurt him."

Still finding it hard to fathom that not everyone had had the same relationship with their parents as he had, Kyouya fell silent; he knew Dino would know better than he would about Belphegor's situation, but still... Surely Belphegor's relationship with his parents wasn't too bad, right? How bad could it be? The blond was spoiled; he probably just wouldn't get everything handed to him like he did with Squalo.

Dino opened his mouth to speak again, but he was cut off by his phone ringing in his pocket. Picking it up, he found Squalo's caller ID flashing on the screen.

"Hey, Squalo." Scratching at a chip in the table, the blond was dismayed to hear his best friend close to tears; Squalo wasn't doing well at all after having his kid taken from him, and Dino was worried; he sincerely hoped the younger wouldn't try anything silly like he had in the past. "What's wrong?"

"Bel ran away." Taking a deep breath, Squalo sniffed. "He ran away last night; those fucks have already been laying into him. He's been with Hayato, but I need to take him back to his parents or else I'm going to be the one in shit."

Angered to hear that someone was hurting sweet Bel, Dino clenched his hands. "You can't go near him, Squalo. If you do, you'll -"

"-I fucking know!" Fighting back tears, Squalo fell silent again. "..."

"I don't want him to go back any more than you, Squalo, but... Hayato can take him back; if they see you with him, you'll have the cops breathing down your neck. I'll get Hayato to take him back."

"..."

"Squalo. I hate to say this... But don't go near Bel if he runs away again; he'll find his way to a friend's house. I don't want anything happening to you because of them."

"...Bucking Horse... That's my kid, and they're fucking beating him! I don't give a fuck what happens to me; I'll kill them for hitting him!"

Kyouya could hear Squalo from the other side of the table, and though he had never heard the long-haired man use any other tone apart from angry and annoyed, could already tell that the man was crying; so Squalo really did love Belphegor after all... "..."

Dino looked down at Kyouya before he excused himself, going outside so that he could have a bit of privacy in his talk. Kyouya was truly surprised that someone could love someone else's kid like their own, especially one that wasn't related to them at all, and it made him wonder; would it one day be possible for him to love someone, too? Maybe not a child, but someone other than his family; he had no one but Fon, and he didn't know what it was like to have someone other than Dino constantly approach him and treat him well.

If Kyouya were to ever love someone other than Fon, would it be Dino? But why would it be Dino? How would he love Dino? Too many questions, and not enough answers.

Deciding he didn't want to keep thinking about this, the skylark turned to his dango. He ate in a dignified manner for quite a while before Dino returned, a stressed look on his now-red face; he himself looked about ready to cry, and Kyouya couldn't help but feel agitated; he didn't care who did it; how dare someone upset his teacher.

"What happened?" Putting his dango down, Kyouya looked up at the other.

"Squalo is in bad shape." Sighing, Dino shook his head. "Lussuria's going over there now to make sure he doesn't do something silly."

"Something silly?"

"Yeah. Bel usually helped keep his depression stable, so it's spiked really severely now. I don't know who I'm more stressed about; Bel or Squalo..."

Shaking his head, Kyouya stood up. "If you are worried about someone, you should be with them so they know someone cares. He is your best friend, is he not?"

"But you're my responsibility until Fon comes back; I won't drag you around anywhere you're uncomfortable, Kyouya." Wishing he could take the advice and go make sure Squalo wasn't about to put a knife to his wrist, Dino shook his head; while Kyouya was in his care, he would do everything he could to look after the skylark.

"I can quite easily walk back to your home, Cavallone," Kyouya pointed out. "Give me your house keys."

Looking out at the rain, Dino shook his head. "I'll drive you back to my house; it's miserable out there."

With that said, Dino stood up, letting the younger follow him back to his car. He hadn't expected for Kyouya of all people to understand, but he was grateful; at least now he could make sure his best friend would be okay.

~~XX~~

"I got a message from Hayato..." Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Squalo slowly handed it over to his two friends. Dropping his head back down on his pillow, the man tugged his blankets tighter around him. "I should have tried harder."

"Hon, you couldn't have done more than you already have." Stroking Squalo's head, Lussuria frowned. "You did your best; it's just hard to take custody over biological parents."

Dino read the text his best friend was showing him, feeling sick; Hayato had indeed taken Belphegor back, and had seen for himself the abuse; they had dragged their child inside by the hair, not saying a word to Hayato, and proceeded to kick the boy until he couldn't move off the ground. Hayato had been horrified by what he had witnessed, but when he had tried to step in, the door was shut and locked, and he could only watch through the window in stunned horror as his boyfriend's screams echoed through his mind.

Why Squalo and Belphegor had to go through this, Dino didn't want to ever know; they deserved so much more than pain.

"I don't know what to say, Squalo..." Patting his friend's shoulder, Dino sighed. "I... I'm so sorry..."

Sniffing back tears, Squalo reached up, pulling at his hair. "It's my fault he's being abused again; I should never have allowed them near Bel again in the first place..."

"Squalo..." Leaning down to hug his friend, Dino shook his head. "You only tried to do the right thing by Bel by giving them the benefit of the doubt and allowing him supervised contact with them; you didn't know they'd take him off you..."

"He's all I have, Bucking Horse... He's all I have..."

Feeling as if he himself could cry, Dino closed his eyes; why did this have to happen?