Apologies for the late update; not only has our internet been down, we're going through a severe heatwave which knocked me off my feet for a while. Since I still don't feel one-hundred per cent, updates may be a tad delayed until the weather cools down.
Five months had passed since Bel had been admitted to the hospital, and now he was finally ready to come home. Most of his organs had made a complete recovery, except for his lungs which were still weak, but nothing serious.
After being in bed for so long, Bel hadn't been able to walk, leaving Yamamoto to carry Bel back to Tsuna's house, which was closest to the hospital - having been jostled around into the younger male's arms had left the blond breathless, and they didn't want to put any more undo stress on his body by carrying him further than needed.
The four were quiet as they walked through the streets, Tsuna and Yamamoto making small talk while Gokudera and Bel remained silent; Gokudera was lost in thought, and Bel had fallen asleep once again.
"I called Squalo-san a few days ago," Tsuna said softly to Yamamoto, not wanting to disturb the two older males. "I told him Bel's doctor said he was almost ready to be released."
"What did he say?" Yamamoto's eyes shone with admiration at the mention of Squalo - the Varia Rain was someone who Yamamoto greatly looked up to, having respected greatly as a superior swordsman during their fight.
"He said he was going to fly out." Tsuna looked at his feet for a few seconds before he looked back up, talking again. "He didn't seem to care, but... Lussuria-san was in the room with him. I heard him in the background telling Squalo-san to go check on Bel. Lussuria-san seemed worried."
"When do you think he'll be here?" Yamamoto glanced down at the blond curled against him. He smiled at the way Bel sucked gently against his knuckles, the sleeping blond seemingly no more dangerous than a kitten.
"He said he had to take care of some stuff before he could fly out." Tsuna frowned. "...I'm not sure when that will be..."
Gokudera, who had been listening in to their conversation, spoke. "Tenth, we don't need the Varia! I'm sure we're more capable of looking after Bel than they are!"
"That may be so, Gokudera-kun, but the Varia are Bel's family..." Tsuna hated to think about sending the blond back to the ones who hadn't cared about the fact that he was in a hospital dying, but if it was Italy Bel wanted to return to, they had no choice. "We can't keep him here if Squalo-san wants to bring Bel back with him."
Gokudera knew the Vongola Decimo was right, but still... He was almost sure Varia would mistreat him and work him too hard while he was still recovering or even just leave him in the room by himself without checking on him. What if they tried to send him on a mission he was too weak to complete? That could cost the Varia Storm his life...!
"We're almost there." Yamamoto smiled as they turned onto Tsuna's street, knowing it was only a matter of minutes before they could rest Bel in a bed and make him comfortable.
The walk back to Tsuna's house was quiet once again, but once they entered the house and went up to Tsuna's room, things were more lively.
"H-hayato...kun...?" Bel stirred as he felt himself being lowered onto a mattress. He groaned, his first thought that he had dreamt the Vongola trio taking him away from that horrid place and that he was, in fact, still there - that was, until he looked around him and noticed that the sickening white of the hospital was gone, replaced instead by Tsuna's bedroom.
"Feeling okay, Bel?" Yamamoto placed his hand against Bel's forehead, worried about why the older male would groan - had he hurt the now-frail teenager somehow?
Bel just nodded, pulling away from the younger's hand. He looked around, taking in his new surroundings. The floor was hardwood, the walls pale. There was a desk tucked away by the bed, a stand by the door, but what caught his interest the most was the TV and the gaming consoles next to it.
Trying to push himself into a sitting position with arms that couldn't hold his own weight anymore, Bel gave up and pointed to the TV, a large grin on his face.
"What's up?" Yamamoto glanced to what Bel was pointing at, quick to guess what he wanted. "You want to play a game?"
Bel nodded, his grin widening. He giggled as he watched Tsuna move to the TV and set everything up, happy to take the controller that was eventually passed to him.
The Varia Storm loved video games. He had a large collection in his room back at Varia Headquarters, but it had been so long since he could do anything, his once-nimble fingers were slow and uncoordinated as he quietly played Mario Kart, grinning all the while.
The three younger males sat around on the floor, talking amongst themselves as they left Bel to himself. Their conversation was interrupted every now and then by Bel dropping the controller to the floor - though after the first couple of times, Tsuna had a sneaking suspicion he was doing it on purpose if the giggles Bel made as he was handed back his controller meant anything.
"Hayato-kun..."
Gokudera looked up at the blond as his name was called. He tilted his head, unable to believe that Bel could be back to his usual mischievous self so soon after being at death's door. He shrugged as the older male pointed to the gaming system again, getting up to take the second controller.
"I should tell you now that I'm renowned for winning against the Tenth whenever we play," the silver-haired teenager warned as he took a seat next to Bel. "You'd better step up your game."
Bel stuck his tongue out at the stronger male, happy to finally be out of that... that prison. He was feeling much better now than he had been, hating to be stuck in that bed like it was a cell he wasn't allowed out of. He liked his freedom, and he never again wanted to be confined like that.
The prince feels so happy~ Bel giggled as he started playing the video game with Gokudera, more relaxed than in months. He loves Hayato-kunso much~ ...Loves... Hayato-kun...? Can the prince love someone...?
Deciding not to think too much on it, Bel focused his attention back to the game, giggling - too weak to laugh loudly - as he crashed his car seconds within starting the race.
Gokudera just laughed, reasoning the older male's skills to that of a drunken player - no one could crash their car as badly as Bel was right now without something impairing their coordination.
~~XX~~
A few hours had passed by, and in that time Bel had eaten a few bowls of ice cream and played a few more video games before he went back to sleep, his body now-unused to being so active.
The younger three had taken over the gaming system and were trying to play quietly so they didn't disturb Bel, but someone ringing the doorbell gained a loud moan of protest from Tsuna.
"I'll be back." Tsuna tread across the floor as he left the room, wondering who would be visiting him - his mother wasn't home, so surely it couldn't be someone looking for her, right?
Upstairs, Gokudera sipped at his juice box as he looked at Yamamoto, finding the dark-haired boy sprawled out across the floor as he waited for Tsuna to come back. It was silent in the house, save Bel's loud breathing, until...
"Voi!"
Yamamoto and Gokudera jumped in surprise at the unmistakable shouting of Squalo from downstairs. They looked to the bedroom door, wondering if they should go down in case the Rain Guardian was trying to kill the brunet, but it didn't seem to matter as footsteps started stomping their way up the stairs. Looking at Bel, the two were surprised to find he was sleeping through this - then again, he had probably grown used to it.
Within seconds, Squalo appeared in the bedroom with Tsuna behind him, the brunet looking greatly intimidated. The man took one look around the room before his eyes narrowed at Bel.
"VoI! Get the fuck up, you little shit!" the silver-haired man roared, moving towards Bel.
Bel frowned as he lifted his head at the commotion, bringing a hand to his head. When Squalo continued to shout at him, he merely moved the pillow over his now-throbbing head, trying to block it out - his headache was already bad, and now Squalo was making him feel sick again.
Gokudera, who noticed that Bel was becoming distressed, moved in between the two older males, trying to at least get Squalo to stop shouting.
"Bel's sick!" Gokudera was ready to grab a stick of dynamite if the Varia Strategy Captain showed any intent of using that sword he was never seen without. "He's sick, and your shouting is making him feel worse! Keep your voice down!"
"The brat is fine!" The long-haired male pointed his sword at Bel, as if to emphasise his point.
"He just got out of hospital!" The silver-haired teenager couldn't believe how shallow Squalo was being. "He almost died!"
Bel, whose head only started pounding more and more, felt as if he was going to throw up - he still wasn't feeling one-hundred per cent, and he wanted it to be quiet. He was vaguely aware of the two arguing over him before something loud crashed to the ground and a hand grabbed his arm, digging in to the area he had had surgery on to make room for the dialysis machine.
The blond moaned as he tried to pull his arm away, feeling the bandage that had been wrapped around the operated area become sticky with blood. This would, if he were feeling better, arouse him - but it was hard to have even the slightest sexual interest when he was feeling so ill. Instead, it just hurt him like it would any other person.
"You idiot!" Gokudera, from where he had been shoved to the ground, stood back up. He pushed at Squalo, trying to get him away from the blond. "Moron, you're hurting him!"
Squalo opened his mouth to argue back, but he stopped when Bel leant over the bed, throwing up on his superior's boots. Gokudera reached out to steady him while Squalo snarled inwardly.
"See?" Gokudera ran a soothing hand over Bel's back, trying to calm the other down. "He's sick."
Squalo, who knew Bel was rarely sick, backed off at this sight - though the Varia Storm had come down with his fair share of colds, it was rare for him to be sick enough to be bedridden, and if he was, it was usually pretty nasty.
"...He's still coming back to Italy with me." Squalo narrowed his eyes at the silver-haired teenager. "I didn't fly all the fucking way out here to come back alone."
"Squalo, he's too sick to travel!" Gokudera was feeling his temper about to get the better of him, but no matter what, he didn't want to make Bel feel any worse than he already was. "Leave him here!"
"What do you care about his condition, you fucking bastard?" Squalo reached out, trying to grip the collar of Gokudera's shirt. "You hate him. You could care less if he dies, and you know this!"
Yamamoto and Tsuna, who had been standing at the back of the room, too scared to intervene, finally spoke up; they could see how hard Gokudera was trying, and it wasn't fair to let their friend fight alone for Bel.
"S-squalo-san..." Tsuna took a few steps towards the two, his arms held out in a defensive manner, "...Squalo-san, what Gokudera-kun is saying is that if Bel goes back to Italy with you, it could kill him..."
"Do you even know this little shit?" Squalo jerked his thumb over his shoulder towards his subordinate. "Nothing is going to kill that kid."
"Something almost did!" Tsuna cried. "I phoned you, and I told you everything, and you brushed it off like it didn't matter if Bel died or not! The only reason you're here is because Lussuria made you!"
"That faggot didn't make me do anything!" Squalo sneered. "Stay out of things you don't understand."
Bel moaned loudly, curling into a ball. He whimpered, trying to pull the pillow down further to block out more sound. He was feeling so sick, it was as if it was back in its early stages when he was feeling too unwell to so much as sleep outside of Gokudera's apartment.
"Squalo-san, we need you to leave..." Tsuna hated kicking people out of his home, but he had to look out for Bel. "He's so sick... We swear, you can have him back when he's better - but not now. You can take him back to Italy when he's well again."
Squalo, as much as he hated doing what others told him to do, left - he wanted to kill those brats, but he knew it wouldn't go down well if he slaughtered the VongolaDecimo for something like this - it would lead to another Crib Incident, one with more severe results, he was certain of it.
"...I'll be back for that shithead as soon as he's well enough to travel..." Squalo muttered angrily under his breath as he left the room, leaving the four alone.
Gokudera pulled the pillow from Bel's hands, lifting him up carefully to slip it back beneath his head. He caressed the teenager's cheek with his thumb, wishing he could do more to help.
"Tenth, he needs some painkillers." Gokudera grabbed the hem of Bel's striped shirt - he was glad the hospital had stored his clothing for when he was released - and raised it to the older male's mouth, wiping at the vomit that stuck to his pale skin.
Tsuna was quick to leave the room to get Bel painkillers, unable to fathom how bad the older male was feeling.
Yamamoto moved to Gokudera's side, placing a hand on Bel's shoulder. He frowned as he noticed the bandage around Bel's arm was spotted with blood, and he could only imagine how badly that must hurt - he had seen it when a nurse was dressing the ugly wound, resembling nothing but a gaping hole with tubes inside it. When he had asked about it, the nurse had told him they had performed surgery on the blond's arm so they could utilise the dialysis machine.
"It's okay, Bel." Gokudera's voice was soft as he waited for Tsuna to return. "It's okay."
Bel whimpered as he raised an arm, laying it over his face. "Hurts..."
"I know..." Gokudera reached down, taking Bel's hand in his own. "...I know..."
When Tsuna returned with a glass of water and painkillers, Yamamoto helped Bel sit up, supporting the older teenager. Gokudera took the items from his friend, wanting to be the one to help.
Bel turned his head away as pills were placed against his lips, but with a few soothing words from Gokudera, he allowed the two tablets to be slipped into his mouth. He tilted his head back as the glass of water was next placed at his lips, the cool liquid feeling good as it disappeared down his throat, taking the pills with it. He felt Gokudera rubbing his throat to make it easier, and he was grateful - he had hated all the IVs that had been used on him back at the hospital, feeling uneasy about the foreign situation.
"You'll feel better soon," Yamamoto promised, patting blond hair.
Bel just nodded, wishing he could have a shower - it wasn't until Yamamoto had touched his precious hair did he realise he felt absolutely filthy, unable to recall the last time his hygiene had been taken care of - in the hospital, he had fought against the nurses trying to bathe him, feeling so sick he didn't want to do anything but just lay in his bed, much less have hands wandering around his body.
With a sigh, Bel closed his eyes, the heavy-duty painkillers knocking him out almost instantly.