A/N There is implied self-harm in this chapter, but nothing graphic. It's also not from angst or anything of the like and never will be graphic. You'll understand why it's been put in here within a few more chapters.
When Bel approached Gokudera and his friends at school two days later, the younger male was surprised to find bruises covering one half of the blond's face, disappearing behind the long bangs. His first assumption was that someone had hit him - but Prince the Ripper wasn't the kind of person to allow himself to be assaulted to easily.
"What did you do to your face?" Tsuna asked, frowning. "It looks painful."
Belphegor just laughed before he replied. "The prince wanted to feel more pain from Hayato-kun, but Hayato-kun wasn't around - so the prince started a fight and let them hit him until he was ready to kill them."
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Gokudera hissed, horrified to hear that someone was so desperate for pain inflicted by his hands, they'd willingly go out and risk their lives for it. He reached out, grabbing the blond's wrist so that he could pull Bel closer, but he quickly backed off as the other hissed in pain before laughing. "...What else have you done?"
Bel's smile never faltered as he lifted his right sleeve up, revealing skinny arms stained with blood, deep cuts everywhere - they went across the boy's wrist, down the top of his arm, and all of them - enough to leave very little skin unmarred - criss-crossed, making it hard to tell what direction they had originally started in.
"The prince doesn't have any bombs, so he started cutting himself and pretended it was Hayato-kun." Bel sounded as happy as ever, as if he had gotten off on doing this to himself.
Tsuna looked horrified as he took in the sight before him. Yamamoto just tilted his head, not knowing what to think - he wasn't stupid enough to not know what these cuts would mean in a lot of other people, but he had never heard of someone cutting themselves for physical pleasure.
It was Gokudera who spoke - or shouted, to be more correct. He shoved Bel into the lockers behind them, grabbing the wounded arm and sliding the sleeve back down, hiding the evidence. "Are you fucking stupid?! You could have killed yourself!"
"No, Hayato-kun." The blond giggled as he pressed against the warm body before him. "The prince was careful - he loves his life and doesn't want to die."
The silver-haired teenager pushed his stalker away, ignoring the crowds that had stopped to look at them with his outburst. "I never thought you'd be stupid enough to do that to yourself! What if you slipped?! What if it went too deep?!"
"Aww, is Hayato-kun worried?" Bel laughed, reaching out to pat the younger male's cheek. "No, Hayato-kun should know that the prince has killed enough people to know what's safe and what's not. The prince isn't suicidal; he just likes pain."
"What the hell would Xanxus or Squalo say about that?" Gokudera sneered. "Bet they'd stop that the second they knew about it - it's not safe, Bel!"
"Hayato-kun is such a caring boyfriend~" Without warning, Bel pushed forward, pressing his lips to Gokudera's. He took advantage of the slightly smaller male's frozen shock, pushing warm lips apart so his tongue could invade the warm cavern it had sought out for so long.
Tsuna squeaked at the sight of his best friend being assaulted while Yamamoto just watched, unable to take his eyes off the sight - it made him feel... tingly, very weird, especially down in his groin. He wasn't entirely sure of what he was feeling, the sensation new to him, but he notice that his skin crawled in a good way when Tsuna grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the two.
"You creep!" Gokudera had broken the kiss, shoving Bel back again. He didn't care for the loud bang that had been caused by the blond hitting the lockers once again - his mind was in turmoil; Bel was going too fucking far to get his attention, and it had to stop before Bel ended up killing himself. "Stay the fuck away from me!"
"I love it when you treat me rough~" Bel laughed as he watched Gokudera stomp away, the younger's two friends following after him. He refused to let himself become discouraged, knowing it was now only a matter of time before Gokudera gave in.
XX
"Can you believe him?!" Gokudera ranted to his friends after they finished their morning class. "He's going to really hurt himself - or kill himself if he keeps this up!"
"Well, maybe we can get hold of the Varia somehow." Tsuna lead his group up to the roof, keeping an eye out for Bel. "They'd have to come and get him if they knew the trouble he's causing."
"Xanxus won't do shit," Gokudera disagreed. "He'd probably be happy to get rid of the stupid brat for a while."
"Guys..." Takeshi was quiet for once, an uncomfortable look on his face. He sighed as his friends ignored him, wishing they'd pay him attention now when he needed it - he had a very... uncomfortable problem, and he wasn't sure on what to do.
"Yeah, but Bel's doing something stupid." Tsuna frowned. "He's confident he knows what he's doing, but it's too dangerous."
"That's not my fault!" Gokudera was trying hard to shake the plaguing thoughts of just giving in to Bel from his mind - he didn't want Bel to kill himself by accident, especially over him, but there was enough bad blood between them to convince him to just leave it and let the stupid brat get what's coming to him. "I just wish he'd stayed the hell in Italy!"
"Guys...!" Yamamoto whimpered, again to no avail.
"Gokudera-kun, if - what is it, Yamamoto?" Tsuna frowned as his friend tugged on his sleeve, noticing the discomfort in the younger's features - the dark-haired boy's body was tense and he was biting his lip as if to stop noise from escaping his mouth.
Gokudera noticed this, too, and he stopped talking, a bit concerned - okay, a lot concerned - as to what was wrong with Yamamoto - had Bel gotten to him somehow...? Was this all a game in the blond's mind or something, trying to get to Gokudera...?
"Tsuna, it..." A dark blush crossed Yamamoto's cheeks as he glanced down at his lap, not knowing how to explain it. "...It's... weird..."
Tsuna's eyes widened as he realised what was wrong with Yamamoto, and he found himself scooting away from the younger as if the taller male had a disease. "...I..."
Gokudera felt pity for the younger, but he wasn't the kind of person who would help with such a problem - he'd rather stay here and keep his distance.
It was Tsuna who offered to help, noticing the dismayed expression on his friend's face. His features softened as he crawled closer to Yamamoto, reaching out to grab a strong shoulder. "I'll... Let's go down to the bathroom, Yamamoto... It will be easier to take care of in there."
Yamamoto nodded, moving both of his hands in front of his groin as he stood up. Gokudera watched as the two exited, his thoughts moving back to Bel.
I don't want shit to do that with psycho... Gokudera nodded. ...But, I also don't want him to end up killing himself over something so petty... He's not going to listen to me, and I highly doubt the Variawould give a damn about what he's doing...
Maybe now I think I won't care and shoulder the burden if he does die, but... what if that does happen...?
I think I had better at least let him hang around us if he just wants attention... Hopefully that will make him stop being so stupid.
What a fucking attention whore.