April.

A time for heavy rain, warmth, and allergies.

Fran decided to add racing to that list as well. It was already two weeks into April and every member of the Varia-Kokuyo alliance except Bel and Fran had had their schedules full with races against random racers and pairs. Mukuro and Xanxus had been keeping Bel and Fran from racing anyone but each other during practice while Spanner and Mammon kept the two of them well fed and rested.

Well, at least Bel was well rested. Fran peaked over to where Bel's head was resting on Mammon's shoulder as Spanner drove the Audi to the Millefiore's track. Shoichi was driving Fran's Murcielago and being accompanied by Xanxus and Mukuro. The two leaders had also decided that the youngest wouldn't drive their cars to avoid any accidents.

Fran sighed and leaned back in the passenger seat. Spanner shot him a look and Fran nearly cringed.

"Have you been sleeping?" Spanner asked.

"Um…define 'sleeping'," Fran nibbled on his bottom lip nervously.

Spanner sighed heavily, "Don't let Mukuro or Xanxus find out."

"So, who are the others racing today?" Fran asked, changing the subject.

"Vongola members and CEDEF," Spanner answered as he turned into the Millefiore's tracks .

"Oh God…" Fran gasped at the sight of the track.

Too many curves. Too long. Dammit. Fran bit his lip as Spanner parked the Audi on the track and got out.

"I wasn't trained for this, Spanner," Fran whispered to his friend as he got out of the car.

"Deal with it, you'll be fine," Bel said as he stretched his muscles outside of the car.

"You're an amazing racer, Fran," Mammon said, "I trust you can go through these curves with minimal trouble."

Fran sighed and swallowed dryly as Mukuro, Xanxus and Shoichi stepped out of his Murcielago.

"You ready, brats?" Xanxus asked as he and Mukuro walked towards where the rest were.

"Yep," Bel said, lacing his fingers behind his head, a small grin on his face.

"You sure look happy," Fran commented. "Do you miss your older brother that badly?"

"Don't be stupid, Frog," Bel sneered, "I'm excited to beat his ass in this race. You better not bring me down, brat."

"Aye-Aye, Captain Douchebag," Fran said, saluting mockingly.

Bel growled and let his arms drop to his side, looking ready to attack. Mammon placed a hand on his shoulder, calming him down a bit.

"They're here," Mammon said, turning Bel to where two cars were speeding down the ramp and onto the track.

The cars stopped on the tracks, the red Corvette ZR1 stopping between Bel and Fran's cars and the purple Mitsubishi Lancer stopping to the right of Fran's car.

The people inside stepped out, a blonde resembling Belphegor but with long, straight, blonde hair stepped out of the Corvette and a black haired male stepping out of the Mitsubishi.

"Usheshe," the blonde giggled at the sight of Belphegor.

Fran cringed he didn't like the sound of that laugh, it didn't sound melodic like Bel's 'Ushishi', this one sounded gross and Fran wanted to cover his ears to protect himself from it.

"Rasiel," Belphegor said, his voice hard and cold.

"Belphegor, dear brother, such a pleasure to see you again," Rasiel said, a wide grin on his face.

Fran cringed again. If he thought his laugh was bad then his voice was much worse. It didn't give the same pleasant tingle Bel's did. Instead, it made the teen want to hide wherever he possibly could. He moved closer to Bel instinctively, ignoring the strange look he received from Shoichi and Spanner.

"I could have gone a few more decades without seeing you," Bel said, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Usheshe, but I missed you so dearly, that's why I asked Byakuran if he could organize this race for me," Rasiel said.

"Then what about him?" Bel asked, gesturing to Fran who was suddenly very close to him.

"Him, he's just an extra," Rasiel said, licking his lip.

Fran gagged lowly and felt Bel push him towards Spanner who wrapped his arms around his small figure.

"That boy is mine to race," Genkishi said, "I have heard many good things about the child and wish to prove that he is nothing special."

"He's good," Bel said, narrowing his eyes.

"But he will never be great," Genkishi said as he got a dreamy look in his eyes, "like Byakuran-sama."

"Are we just going to talk or can we race already?" Fran sighed and pulled away from Spanner. "I have homework to do, y'know."

"Let us race then," Genkishi said, turning around and heading towards his car. Rasiel followed after giving his brother and Fran a smirk, leaving the two other racers to be given directions by their respective leaders.

"Listen, all you gotta do is win," Xanxus said.

"Don't be afraid of the curves, they aren't as bad as you think they are," Mukuro said, ruffling Bel and Fran's hair.

"Be safe," Spanner said, pulling Fran into a hug and kissing the corner of his mouth. Fran simply nodded before hugging Shoichi and turning to where Bel was trying to suck Mammon's face off.

"Hey, you can do that after we win," Fran said, pushing at Bel's side to get the blonde to stop.

Bel glared and gave Mammon one last peck before Mammon gave both Bel and Fran a tight a hug and going over to the seats.

"Let's go," Bel said, wrapping his hand around Fran's wrist and pulling him towards their cars.

A few feet away from where there cars were, Bel stopped Fran and using the hand that was wrapped around the younger's wrist, spun him around to face him.

"Listen, brat, don't mess up," Bel said firmly. "Remember that you're on the line. If we lose, then you're lost. I may not like you but you're important to the team and important to Mammon, so be careful, alright?"

Fran nodded and using his other hand pushed Bel's hand off of his wrist and walked to his Murcielago before getting in. Bel sighed and got into his own car.

Four engines went on at the same time and the cars connected with each other. Fran saw four dots on his screen, one for each person on the track.

"You guys ready?" Spanner asked through the communicator.

"Define 'ready'," Fran said, leaning back in his seat.

He heard a huff and a chuckle that came from Rasiel.

"I'll just assume that you're ready then, anything goes" Spanner said and Fran spotted blinking on his screen which meant that the countdown was beginning.

"Ready…" Shoichi said.

"Set…" Fran suddenly remembered Uni's words and the look in her eyes.

"Go!" Fran sped off while the feeling in his stomach grew stronger and stronger.

It's just five laps, Fran thought to himself, just five laps, and whoever crosses first wins.

Anything goes, Spanner's words flashed through Fran's mind, causing Fran to gulp.

Fran took a deep breath as he went around the first curve. It was a bit tricky but he made it and took a quick look at his rearview mirror. Bel and Genkishi were close behind him while Rasiel was right beside him, making Fran feel a tad uneasy.

The first two laps were completed with ease and Fran almost felt like he could relax. He would relax if Genkishi wasn't constantly trying to push Bel off the tracks and if Rasiel wasn't creeping closer and closer to him.

As Fran began to turn the next curve, he saw Rasiel move far away from him and panic began to rise in him. He's going to do something.

Fran had no time to move out of the way when Rasiel came crashing into him.

~0~0~0~0~

Spanner watched in horror as Fran's car went spinning out of control before it hit the guard rail, the passenger side being smashed in and stopping just before it reached the drivers side. He barely noticed Rasiel and Genkishi leaving the tracks or Bel getting out of his car and rushing towards the Murcielago.

"Sho-Shoichi…am…am..ambu…ambulance."

~0~0~0~0~

Bel was trembling. Every single part of him was shaking.

Please be okay. Please.

He tugged the door to drivers side open, catching Fran's limp, unconscious body as it slipped out of the car. Bel pulled the boy out of the car and kneeled down on the floor, Fran on his lap.

So much…too much…be okay…

Blood was oozing out from a gash on the teen's head, turning his green hair a shade of dark red. Bruises and cuts were all over his arms and face and Bel saw that the boy's nose had a minor injury. But that didn't matter.

What did matter was that blood was practically pouring all over and the ambulance wasn't coming.

Bel pulled his sweater off and pressed it to the gash on Fran's head before holding the boys head close to the chest and whimpering.

"You'll be okay."