When Dino's eyes opened the next morning, he was happy that Kyouya was still in his arms. However, what did bother him was to see that the skylark was crying in his sleep.

"Kyouya?" Propping himself up on his elbow, Dino shook the younger's side until onyx orbs were looking at him, the other trying hastily to blink away his tears. "Kyouya, what's wrong?"

Pushing the teacher away, Kyouya rolled onto his side, wiping at his eyes. "Nothing. I am fine."

"You're crying, Kyouya. You can trust me; what's the matter? Did I do anything to make you uncomfortable?"

Kyouya's agitation quickly grew, wanting to be left alone; he hadn't cried in front of anyone since his parents had died, and it made him extremely uneasy to be in this position; he wanted to be alone so that he could cry in peace, hating that he had been so weak as to mourn in his sleep again. "Leave me alone!"

Dino didn't do so, instead pulling Kyouya into his arms and hugging him tight. "It's okay, Kyouya; you can tell me. I won't judge you for anything."

"…" Rolling over so that he could look at Dino, Kyouya frowned; should he confide in the other or not? He wasn't used to talking about his problems, not even to Fon; could he really start with his teacher...?

Taking the plunge, Kyouya took a deep breath before closing his eyes and saying, "I haven't been to a hospital since... my parents died... It's a slap in the face for me…"

"Kyouya…" Holding the younger close, Dino cupped his student's face. He hesitated for a few seconds before he kissed the other again, so gentle, their lips brushed together. "Kyouya, it's okay to miss them; if you want to cry, then cry; it's nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes I still cry when I think of my parents."

"You do?" Kyouya had never really thought of his teacher as one to cry, having always thought of him as resolute, but the past couple of days had really shown him that even Dino was still human. Deciding to swallow his pride for just this moment, he allowed his tears to fall; sometimes it was hard pretending he didn't feel anything.

"Kyouya…" Holding the teenager close, Dino shook his head; he didn't know if Kyouya would allow him close like this again or not, and he wanted to take full advantage of it; he could see that his student had never truly gotten over his parents' deaths, and he wanted to help in any way he could. "It's okay, Kyouya; it's okay. Let it out; it'll be good for you."

Kyouya knew he had never been able to get over the loss of his parents because he just wouldn't allow himself to mourn the way he needed to; he locked his feelings away, refusing to let himself cry as much as he needed to, so it was understandable that, with a shoulder to lean on, Kyouya allowed himself to get out all his grief and suffering.

Dino didn't mind; he was just glad that Kyouya was finally allowing himself to mourn completely.

~~XX~~

Kyouya had come back to the hospital with Dino, much to the blond's surprise; the man had expected for his student to stay home, but the skylark had instead taken the initiative to get in the car and wait patiently.

Now, after having spoken to police and explained everything he knew about the situation, Dino and Kyouya were sitting in Belphegor's hospital room, the boy refusing the blankets and instead kicking them off whenever someone tried to warm him up; Dino had to make a mental note to bring some of the boy's blankets from his home as the hospital ones were too heavy for him.

Bel also didn't like the many IV cords that were connected to his body, pulling at them every now and then, and his thoughts were so jumbled, he felt numb and didn't have the strength to do much other than lay on his side and stare at his visitors; he couldn't feel much, could only replay the events of the previous night through his head, and even as he remembered the way Squalo had tried to protect him, he found it hard to know what emotion he was supposed to be feeling. He remembered feeling terrified when they had been attacked, could recall the pain that was near-overwhelming as he fled, but here and now, he wasn't sure if what he was remembering was even real.

"The police are going to help you, Bel." Sitting closest to Belphegor's bed, Dino let the boy hold his index finger; whatever comfort the younger could get, Dino would willingly give it to him. "They know what your family did to you and Squalo; one of the officers said I could go to court and get emergency custody of you. Would you like that? We'll try and get you back to Squalo as soon as we can."

Turning his head slightly, Belphegor made a soft sound. He didn't say anything; he just let a few tears roll out from beneath his bangs and onto the pillow, frustrated that he couldn't seem to feel anything, no matter how hard he tried.

"Bel…" Looking over his shoulder as the door opened, Dino fought back tears as he realised Hayato was also skipping school in order to visit, something he hadn't expected for the silver-haired teen to do; never before had Hayato put anyone else before Tsuna. "Hayato, what are you doing here?"

Shrugging, Hayato looked to the side. "I heard about what happened… I haven't told Tenth or the baseball idiot yet… They'll stress… How is he?"

"He's stable." Watching as Hayato closed the distance between them in order to climb onto the bed next to Belphegor, Dino stood up; the two would probably want some privacy, and as long as there was someone here to take care of the boy, he would take Kyouya back home where the other was more comfortable.

"Hey, Bel…" Leaning down, Hayato kissed his boyfriend gently. He wasn't surprised when the other didn't kiss back, having seen the abuse for himself; it would probably take a while before the blond trusted anyone again.

"Kyouya, let's leave them alone." Taking the teenager's hand in his, Dino tugged the other out of the room. "I think Hayato will have a lot he wants to tell Bel. Let's have breakfast; neither of us ate very much this morning."

Kyouya nodded. Taking one last look at Belphegor and Hayato, he was surprised to see the silver-haired male laying on his side with Belphegor snuggling in close to him; he knew for a fact that the blond found touch painful and rarely came this close to anyone but Squalo; why now, after what he had just been through?

Keeping quiet, Kyouya walked with Dino through the hospital for a while before he stopped, unable to handle the depression wafting from his teacher any longer; taking matters into his own hands, he grabbed the blond's shirt and spun him around before wrapping his arms around the thin body.

"You shouldn't be so sad; you are much more suited to being happy." With that said, Kyouya pulled his arms back to himself, stepping away from the other.

Dino couldn't help but smile, finding his mood had lifted a tad more at Kyouya's actions; accepting the fact that he really did like the younger, he wondered if he was falling in love with the skylark more each time they spent time together.

~~XX~~

Sitting at home with a glass of wine in hand, Dino was confused as to why Kyouya kept glaring at him. He had noticed it was a common occurrence whenever he had wine, but he had never thought to ask about it until now. "What's wrong, Kyouya?"

"I hate alcohol." Turning back to the book he had been reading, Kyouya sent his guardian one last glare from the corner of his eye.

Dino didn't hesitate to put his glass down on the coffee table, not wanting to drink it if it were only making the teenager uncomfortable. "Is that better, Kyouya?"

"What are we?" Ignoring the question, Kyouya instead came up with his own, catching his teacher off-guard.

"Excuse me?"

"What are we? What does kissing make us?"

Unprepared for such a question, Dino almost didn't know how to respond. Speaking from his heart, he said, "I guess that makes us whatever you want us to be. It is entirely up to you, Kyouya."

"Up to me?" Having not expected to hear this, Kyouya cocked his head. He could think of a lot of things he could choose, but the most obvious choice was for him to finally work out whether or not he liked Dino, or was just feeling extremely comfortable around him; he had never thought about his sexuality until he came to stay with Dino, after all. "Then… I want to find out if I really do like other males or not."

Chuckling, Dino reached out, pulling the teenager onto his lap. "I'm sure I can help you with that." Giving the younger a kiss, the blond allowed himself to relax completely; it had been a long time since he had had a boyfriend, and he was eager to start dating again; hopefully the teenager would one day be open to the idea of them being together if he did decide he liked males, too.

Kyouya, however, wasn't sure he had made the right choice; he just knew that if he were to ever experiment with someone, Dino would be the most tolerable out of all the herbivores he knew. Somehow, part of him knew this wasn't an experiment; that he did like males and simply was going about things as to hide his true feelings from his teacher.

Kyouya wasn't going to admit to anyone that he liked them in such a straightforward manner, after all.