"It's not like you to have suddenly disappeared and not even let me know you weren't going to show up for work." Daemon's light-coloured eyes regarded his employee with amusement, a smirk on his face. "May I ask what was so important, you risked being fired?"

Mukuro shrugged as he swept behind the registers, wishing the store would hurry up and open – if there were customers around, he may finally have peace from his boss' cruel nature. "Family emergency."

"Did someone die? You're looking very depressed today." Daemon's smirk grew wider at these words, as if he found the idea funny.

"No one died. I'm sorry, but I'm not divulging any details; it's between me and my sister."

"Nufufu~" Daemon put down the money he had been counting onto the register, his fingers instead twitching as they were directed to soft blue locks of hair. "You can trust me, Muku-chan~ Why don't you tell me what's bothering you?"

"Please do not touch me." Mukuro tensed as he pulled away from the older male's hand. "It makes me uncomfortable."

Daemon didn't relent; he instead stepped close enough so that he backed the smaller male against the wall, pressing one hand by the younger's head to block Mukuro's escape. "You know, you skipped out on quite a lot of shifts. If you give in to me, I'll pay for you the ones you missed."

Mukuro glanced to the side. He was tempted to take the offer, needing the money, but was it really worth lowering himself to no more than a prostitute...? He was feeling bad – of course he was! – but did he really need to let his self-worth fall anymore than it already had...?

"It won't take long; I'll even let you go home for the day and pay you for this shift." Daemon's face was so close to the younger's, Mukuro could feel hot breath against his face.

"...It'll be quick...?" Mukuro was too tired to argue, nor did he see the point in resisting any longer; Daemon wasn't going to leave him alone, so he may as well just get it over with.

The stronger male nodded as he moved his hips against Mukuro's. "It will."

With a sigh, the smaller male resigned himself to his fate. He hated how his body reacted so positively to the man's touch, but what he hated the most was when he found himself climaxing not just once, but thrice.

At least now he could go home and shower until he felt as if he had washed away every last molecule of filth on his body.

~~XX~~

While Fran was at school, Mukuro had curled up on the living room couch after his shower. The house was silent, not a thing out of place, and just when Mukuro was about to fall asleep once again, he was disturbed by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

Reluctantly, Mukuro got to his feet and answered it.

"Tsunayoshi...?" To the man's immense surprise, the brunet he had last seen in Japan was standing on his doorstep, brown eyes softer than ever.

"Squalo told me what had happened, and that you've been depressed." Tsuna fidgeted uncomfortably, the cold air chilly. "I thought I'd drop by and see if I could help – you've always been there for us."

Mukuro nodded as he stepped back from the doorway, letting the younger male have entrance. "Much appreciated."

It was no surprise Squalo had said something to Tsuna; while Squalo's company, Varia, branched off from the main one ran by Tsuna, they had eventually become comfortable enough with each other for this amount of trust to take hold – and while Squalo wasn't the best person to come to if someone had problems, he had at least cared enough to try and get someone to help.

Tsuna looked around the house as he followed his host into the living room. The first thing he had noticed was the absence of Mukurowl, something he had never thought would happen – Mukuro loved that bird more than anything else in his life.

"Where's Mukurowl?" Tsuna questioned, wary of treading on a conversation he wasn't meant to have.

"...I put him with a new family..." Mukuro sounded heartbroken at these words, and they caught Tsuna so off-guard, the brunet couldn't help but gasp.

"B-but...! He's an owl! You can't just give them away!" Tsuna knew he probably wasn't being much help at the moment, but he was greatly concerned about what was happening for his friend – the Mukuro he knew would never even consider giving his pet away. "Why...?"

"Because every time I looked at him, it made me remember just how much I miss Kyouya..." Mukuro admitted.

"Mukuro-san..." Tsuna wasn't sure if he'd be able to help very much, but he knew he'd have to try; Mukuro was his friend, and he wasn't the kind of person to sit back and let his friends hurt.

The first thing Tsuna knew he had to do was find Mukurowl and get him back – the blue-haired male would never be able to cope without the owl.

~~XX~~

Fran was confused as to why a brunet he had never seen before was the one waiting outside his classroom when school finished for the day, but even so, he didn't hesitate getting into the car with whom he had dubbed as 'Tuna-Fish' after hearing that the other male's name was Tsuna.

Once the brunet had pulled the car away from the curb, heading back to Mukuro's home, Fran spoke curiously. "How come Tuna-Fish is picking me up? Why didn't Master get me?"

"Mukuro-san is having a bit of a rough time, so he's not feeling up to it," Tsuna explained gently. "You've got to be good for him until he feels better, okay?"

"Is he sick? He looks very sick to me; Master always seems to be sad lately." Fran nodded at his own words, frowning.

"He is sick, but it's not a sickness you can see, Fran; it's a sickness of the heart."

"Like how I felt when my family left?" Though the boy didn't cry, Tsuna could see the younger was still hurting over the deaths of his family.

Tsuna nodded. "That's right. He just needs a bit of love and support."

"Master doesn't play with me anymore..." Fran hugged his schoolbag tightly to his chest. "He only comes out of his room to make me food..."

"Are you feeling lonely?" The Japanese male frowned as Fran nodded. He couldn't be mad at Mukuro, knowing it wasn't his fault, but it was still really unfair to Fran for Mukuro to take it out on him by keeping himself cooped up in bed. "Well, I'll talk to Mukuro-san and try and encourage him to play with you again. Alright?"

The corners of Fran's lips lifted at these words as he nodded. "Will Tuna play with me, too?"

"Sure." Tsuna smiled at the boy as he nodded. "What do you like playing?"

"Master says I play really well by myself because I like playing everything, even if I don't have toys." Fran slowly started to smile more naturally at the mention of his guardian. "I like to play outside with my water squirters and chase things."

Tsuna laughed. "Okay. We'll find something for us to do when we get back to Mukuro-san's."

Fran nodded, excited to have someone new to play with; he always felt as if Mukuro didn't love him anymore whenever the man said he wasn't in the mood to play with him lately. Hopefully Tsuna could fix it and he could be with Mukuro again like he had been before things had changed.

~~XX~~

"That's thirty dollars, thank you."

Belphegor pulled his wallet out from his pocket, withdrawing one of his many credit cards. He waved it in front of the cashier's view, a silent gesture as to his method of payment.

"Swipe when you're ready."

Bel quickly finished the transaction before he grabbed the frog teddy waiting on the register for him. He ignored the cashier telling him to have a good day, instead moving to stand with Squalo and Xanxus by the exit of the store, clutching the teddy close to him.

"You're doing the right thing, Bel." Squalo patted blond hair affectionately before he checked the time on his watch. "How are you going to give it back to Fran? Are you going to tell him what you did to his last one?"

Bel shook his head. "He doesn't need to know that... He'll just think it's the one Mukuro bought for him. But... I don't know how to do this... Mukuro hates me, and he threatened to call the cops on me..."

"Go see him at work," Xanxus suggested. "He wouldn't dare cause a scene there."

"Give it a few days, first," the silver-haired male suggested. "Give him some more time to calm down. I think the Vongola brat is over there now."

"Okay... Do you think he'll ever forgive me...?"

"Honestly?" Squalo shook his head. "I'd be surprised if he didn't hate you. He might not ever get over it because you really did hurt him – he trusted you with Fran and you fucked them both over – literally. Just... Don't get your hopes up."

"Yeah... Can we go back now, Squ-Squ...?"

Squalo nodded. He reached out, patting the younger male's shoulder before he turned and left the store. He hoped things would eventually work out between the younger males, but he doubted it – if someone they trusted had sexually abused Bel when he was younger, Squalo would have torn their dicks off and made them suffer a slow, agonising death.

In fact, if it had been anyone but Bel who had done that to Fran, Squalo would have already done that by now. Squalo was sure Belphegor truly had no idea just how much he and Xanxus loved their foster child.