"Care to explain this?"

Bel blinked as he regarded the phone that had just been shoved in his face. It had been three days since the incident, and in that time, the blond had tried his hardest to get Mukuro to talk to him by sending texts asking if he may explain himself. They had never been answered, but apparently Mukuro had taken the issue to Squalo and Xanxus.

Bel took the phone, reading a message that had been sent from Mukuro's number. I didn't want to drag you into this, so my apologies, but I'm changing my number as Belphegor will not listen to me when I told him to never contact me again. Please kindly tell him to leave us alone as I want nothing more to do with him.

"So." Squalo had made himself comfortable on Bel's couch, Xanxus next to him. The two were wearing their work uniform, having finished their morning shift. "Tell us what's going on."

Bel just shrugged, not wanting them to know what he had been doing – he had already lost everyone else, and he couldn't bear it if he lost them, too. "It's nothing important..."

"Brat, your best friend sent this to us!" Squalo roared. "It's not nothing important! Now tell us!"

"We had a fight," Bel tried to cover. "That's all."

"The pineapple trash doesn't fight," Xanxus inputted. "What did you do to make him so angry?"

"Why are you assuming it's my fault?!" The blond male argued back. "What if it wasn't my fault?!"

"We know it's your fault because of your fucking personality and the context of this text, so fess up or we'll beat it the fuck out of you!"

"Great parenting." Obscured eyes rolled as he stood up, leaving the room. "I'm not saying anything because there is nothing to tell."

"Get the fuck back here, trash!" Xanxus roared; as aggressive as he and Squalo could be towards the younger male, they had loved and cared for him for eighteen years – there was no way they were going to sit back when something had clearly gone wrong for the younger.

"Leave me alone!" Bel shouted back, slamming one of the doors in the hallway.

Squalo stood up from the couch, his lover close behind him. The two followed the youngest down to Bel's bedroom, finding it had been locked from the inside.

"Fuck it." Xanxus – who was far from the mood to deal with this shit – kicked the door down in one fell swoop, finding the blond curled up in the bed.

"Belphegor, talk to us," Squalo demanded. "Tell us what's wrong so we can help. Look – maybe we're not the best parent figures you could have had, but –"

"I don't need you," Bel spat. The truth was, he loved both of his foster parents, but he was in so much pain right now, he couldn't help but lash out. "I don't need your help."

Xanxus stepped forward. He grabbed blond locks, pulling the young man's face up to look at him. "Well, that's too bad, trash – we're all you've ever had."

"That's fucking right!" Squalo added in. "We're the only family you've got, and you'd better fucking respect that!"

Bel just glared at them with a frown on his face. He shrugged Xanxus away from him before he grabbed the blankets and pulled them over his skinny body, his back to the older two.

"Leave me alone..." Bel muttered, too tired to argue anymore; he was exhausted from everything that had happened, and he didn't want to fight – not with these two. Never his foster parents. "...Mink just died... I don't need this..."

Squalo's eyes softened as he turned to look at Xanxus. He bit his lip before he moved forward, pulling Bel into a tight hug.

"Why didn't you tell us that in the first place?" Squalo sighed as he threaded clothed fingers through the younger's locks. "...Shit... I'm really sorry, Belphegor..."

Xanxus moved away from the two, having never been one for affection; it made him uncomfortable to see the way the two clung to each other.

While it was clear Bel wasn't going to start opening up to them any time soon, Xanxus instead left to raid the kitchen, wondering if by chance the blond had a steak or two lying around somewhere.

Xanxus swore he didn't get laid enough for this shit.

~~XX~~

"Master, there are two men at the door looking for you."

Mukuro lifted his head from the pillow, blinking away sleep. He pushed himself into a sitting position, regarding Fran with worried eyes. "Why did you open the door to strangers, little one? You should have come and got me."

"I did – I just let them into the house first." Fran looked so innocent, it was hard to tell if he was being snarky or not in this moment.

Mukuro tensed before he threw the blankets from his body. He got to his feet, hurrying out of the room and down the hall, greatly concerned about who the boy could have let in. To his immense relief, however, he soon relaxed as he found Squalo and Xanxus sitting in the living room.

"He's a cute kid, but I think you should have a talk with him about inviting strangers into your home." Squalo shrugged as he pointed to Fran, the boy having trailed behind Mukuro. "Next time he mightn't be so lucky."

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Mukuro may still be furious with Bel, but he wasn't the kind of person to take it out on others who weren't involved with what had happened.

"We just came from the shithead's house," Squalo explained. "We tried asking him what he had done wrong, but he wouldn't say anything. We're just trying to sort it out and make sure everyone's okay."

Mukuro tensed, not sure how to reply to this – what kind of parent – foster or biological aside – would want to hear that their child was a paedophile? "...I don't feel comfortable explaining it. I am sorry."

"It didn't have anything to do with Mink, did it?" the silver-haired man questioned.

"Mink?" Heterochromatic eyes took on a confused look; what on Earth could their fight have to do with Mink? "What about him?"

"Bel said he died."

"Oh..." The blue-haired man truly felt bad for hearing this. "...I am sorry... But I have no idea what could have happened."

"I get that you're not comfortable, but could you tell us?" Squalo didn't want to sound pushy, but he was worried about Bel; it wasn't like the younger man to be as withdrawn and depressed as he seemed to have become. "Something's really wrong with him."

"I agree," Mukuro stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "More so than you'd have realised."

"What the fuck did he do?!" Xanxus growled, irritated beyond belief. "Spit it out!"

"Is this about Bel-senpai?" Fran moved past Mukuro so that he could sit on the floor in front of the couch, looking up at the two newcomers.

"No." Mukuro had only wanted to protect Fran, hoping the boy would eventually get bored and wander away from the conversation, so when two affirmations were spoken over his guardian's voice, Fran became confused.

"Is it or not?" Teal eyes just blinked up at Mukuro.

"Little one... Leave the room, please."

Fran got up to do as told, only to stop and turn to look at Squalo next as the man spoke to him.

"Do you know why they're fighting?" The silver-haired male asked. He knew it was wrong to have involved the boy in this, but they weren't going to get answers any other way.

"Huh?" Fran looked between the three adults before he nodded, thinking he understood what they were talking about now. "I think so."

"Don't tell them," Mukuro tried to demand, not wanting Bel's acts known by anyone else – he knew Squalo and Xanxus had the right to know more than anyone, but he didn't want to be the one to break their hearts – or worse, break their relationship with the blond.

Bel would surely suffer enough without Mukuro and Mink by his side; he didn't need to lose his two foster parents.

"Don't tell them what?" Fran asked, truly not understanding what had been asked of him. "About our game?"

Xanxus clicked on at this. "Trash, what 'game' did you play with him?"

Fran looked at the dark-haired man. He knew Bel had told him not to tell anyone, but Mukuro knew, so surely it wouldn't matter anymore if anyone else found out? "We got naked and touched each other, and then Bel-senpai would put himself inside me."

All three adults were horrified by these words. Squalo looked as if he were ready to slaughter someone, and though it wasn't visible on the outside, Xanxus was in turmoil – he hadn't raised Belphegor to become that kind of person, so why the fuck did this happen?

Dropping to his knees, Squalo left the couch as he engulfed Fran in a tight hug. He didn't let the boy go for a few minutes until he looked up at Mukuro and said, "I am so sorry – I had no fucking idea he'd do that!"

"It wasn't your fault, Squalo – you didn't know..."

"I'm going to kick his ass!" Xanxus growled to himself as he stood up. He grabbed hold of long silver tresses, dragging his lover from the boy and over to the front door. "Let's go, shark trash!"

"Wait!" Fran ran back to the newcomers, wrapping his frail arms around Squalo's middle. He wouldn't let go, even as Mukuro tried to pry him away. "If you're going back to Bel-senpai's home, can you bring back my frog? I accidentally left him there when Master brought me back."

"Oh, sure," Squalo promised. He reached out to pat teal hair in a reassuring manner. "We'll bring it back for – goddamnit, Xanxus, let go of my fucking hair!"

"Come away, little one." Mukuro picked the boy up, cradling him in a tender hold. "Leave them be."

Fran nodded. He watched as the two shouted at each other some more before they disappeared out of the front door, leaving Mukuro and Fran behind.

Fran didn't know why it hurt him to know that, as soon as his guardian had calmed him down, Mukuro had gone straight back to bed.

~~XX~~

Bel doesn't have the frog anymore. He said it made him angry so he wrecked it. We've sorted it out on his end and he knows not to do anything like it ever again now.

Mukuro blinked as he read Squalo's text. His fingers hovered over the keypad of his phone, unsure of what to type back. He knew Squalo had only been doing what he believed was right, but he really hadn't wanted the older man to get involved in this.

Before the man could reply, another text came through.

It's probably none of my business, but why was Fran not at school? It's not like you to keep him home. If you're feeling like shit, I don't mind picking him up and taking him to and from school. Just don't let yourself become depressed again. Let us know if we can help.

Disregarding the first text, Mukuro instead replied to the last one. I'm going back to work tomorrow. Thank you for the offer; I'll let you know when I need to take you up on it.

Throwing his phone away, Mukuro sighed as he rolled onto his side, nestling further beneath his blankets. He wasn't looking forward to going back to work, but he desperately needed the money if he still wanted a roof over his head.