By the time the four Mafioso arrived back in Japan to report to Tsuna, Bel was more agitated than usual; apparently he didn't do well with jetlag. Both Leviathan and Lambo had been only too happy to have a separate Vongola limo drive them back to headquarters, leaving Bel and Gokudera to share one together; they didn't want to be the ones dealing with the blond, already willing to murder him in his sleep; he took a lot of effort to deal with, and not a single one of them wanted to exert said energy.

As expected, Gokudera was ready to kill the other in the slowest, most painful method he could think of, the boy's lack of regard towards others' personal space more apparent than usual; the blond seemed to think that his older companion was nothing more than a pillow, continuously trying to lay against the Vongola Storm or across his lap, and whenever the man protested and shoved him away, he received a sharp jab to his ribs with the tip of the Varia Guardian's knife.

And now, finally, after arriving at the Vongola mansion, Gokudera was only too happy to dive out of the car and leave Bel curled up on the seat, glad to get away from the younger.

Entering the Vongola mansion, the silver-haired male found Ryohei and Yamamoto standing by the staircase, talking amongst themselves. They fell silent at their companion's approach, two sets of hardened eyes staring at him questioningly.

"What?" Reaching into his pocket, the Storm Guardian pulled a packet of cigarettes from his jacket. "Don't give me that look."

"We heard from Tsuna who heard from Lussuria that Belphegor got hit by the bazooka, and that he'd be staying with us until it wears off." Looking all around Gokudera in search of the Varia member, Yamamoto frowned. "Where is he?"

"In the car or some shit; I don't know." Shaking off the accusing looks the taller two were giving him, Gokudera narrowed his eyes. "I can't fucking stand him and he's done nothing but piss me off! Why can't the fucking Varia come back for him or something?"

"He's just a kid, and he doesn't know how to fight here." Shaking his head, Yamamoto sighed. "You should be looking after him to make sure he doesn't get hurt."

"The little shit can look after himself; he can get hurt for all I fuckin' care..."

While Ryohei left the conversation, angered by the younger's attitude yet not wanting to start more conflict, Yamamoto continued trying; he wasn't going to stand by and let Gokudera hurt someone like this. "He likes you most out of us; he won't listen to any other Vongola."

"And he doesn't even listen to me as it is! I hate the little shit; every time I look at him, I want to strangle him! Just send him back to Italy!"

"If you want to get rid of me that badly, you could have just said."

Turning around at the unexpected voice, the Rain and Storm guardians both frowned at the sight of Bel standing by them, his bag in hand as he donned a stoic expression.

"I already know neither of you like me; I wouldn't have cared if you said it to my face. What I do care about is being talked about behind my back. I'll go back to Italy myself; I don't need to associate with your kind."

"Bel..." While Yamamoto genuinely felt bad for the boy, Gokudera simply sneered and walked away.

Calling over his shoulder, the Vongola Storm casually said, "Try and be gone by tonight so I don't have to look at you during dinner."

Bel's expression remained emotionless at these words, but he didn't reply to them; he simply carried his bag up the stairs, intending on finding a room for him to take shelter in while he figured out what to do.

It was clear that here was the same as everywhere else; no matter where he went, he wasn't wanted by anyone.

~~XX~~

Lifting his head from the pillow an uncertain amount of time later, Bel found the Vongola Decimo stepping into his room.

"Yamamoto told me you overheard him and Gokudera-kun talking." The brunet was soft, his eyes full of concern. "I've already spoken to Gokudera-kun about his behaviour. Please don't go back to Italy; you're welcome here, even if Gokudera-kun says otherwise."

Shrugging, Bel said, "I'll leave; I don't want to be here anyway; I want to play with Mammon's puffy cheeks again."

Tsuna wasn't stupid; he knew what the blond meant: Bel was lonely without Mammon, probably the reason he was acting out.

"Levi's the only one in Italy at the moment anyway; he went back a few hours ago, and everyone else is busy."

Bel didn't reply back to this; he simply started picking at his jacket, annoyed already with this conversation.

"Bel?"

"You've got five seconds to get out of my room before I turn you into a cactus." Reaching into his pocket, the boy's hand resurfaced with a handful of knives. "I don't care that the boss and his bitch will yell at me; get out."

Tsuna hesitated, but he did as told; he knew that Bel would do as he had threatened. "..."

Watching as the Vongola Decimo left the room, Bel dropped his knives to the bed; he was agitated, but he wasn't entirely sure of why; was it because that, even though he knew Gokudera had never liked him, it actually hurt to hear his Vongola counterpart talking about him like that? Part of Bel had liked the silver-haired male, kind of like how he liked Mammon, but different in a way even he as a genius couldn't quite work out; he had never felt like that towards anyone but Squalo before, and even then, it hadn't lasted very long; those feelings had disappeared after a couple of months, unlike with Gokudera, which had begun shortly after their fight and were still present.

Rolling onto his back, Bel looked up at the roof, wishing Mammon were there with him so that he could hug her close and fall into a peaceful sleep; the Mist Arcobaleno was truly the one and only friend he had ever had.

But… Sometimes the blond couldn't help but lay awake at night and wonder… What would it be like to have Gokudera as a friend, too…?

Somehow, Bel didn't think he would ever find out.

~~XX~~

It hadn't taken very long for Bel to find a clear path out of the Vongola mansion, noticing that with all the guardians gathered together in the one room downstairs, there was really no one else there to stop him from sneaking out; having checked for flights back to Italy, he was dismayed to find that there would be no more leaving for a few days at the very least, leaving him to feel trapped in that unfamiliar room.

Boredom picking away at his mind already, Bel knew he needed to get out and find something to entertain him lest he go crazier than he already was; he hated having nothing to do, finding that if he were left to nothing but his thoughts, he slowly drowned himself in feelings that did nothing but unhinge him further.

Even Bel knew that thinking was bad for him.

Opening the front door to the mansion, the boy snuck outside, eventually escaping through the front gate after having stolen a card from downstairs to open them. Now that he was out in the open, the first thing for him to do was find his way into town, and hope to stem the monotony with a few slow murders.

However, what he failed to notice in his greatly agitated state was that he wasn't alone; he was, in fact, outnumbered.

~~XX~~

As the Vongola Decimo's right-hand man, Gokudera took Guardian meetings very seriously; he always sat at attention, ready to shut anyone up who made a fuss, and was willing to personally handle anything his boss couldn't do.

Sitting by Tsuna's side, Gokudera hung on to every word the brunet spoke, especially when the topic turned into one of warning, Tsuna having become aware of suspicious activity around the mansion.

"I've had Ryohei looking into it, and I don't believe there's a huge cause for alarm just yet, but I would like for everyone to remain vigilant; we don't know what they're after, or how many of them there are."

Before anyone could reply, there was a soft knock on the door and one of the staff entered, a look of uncertainty on her face. "I am very sorry to interrupt, but your guest has left the gates open at his departure."

Tsuna's eyes widened with deep concern, instantly assuming the worst; if Bel had wandered off, and someone was still hanging around…

Bel was in serious danger, and he wouldn't stand a chance in this timeline.

"Everyone go out and look for Belphegor!" Getting to his feet, Tsuna couldn't help but bark his order; the last thing he wanted was for anything to happen to the Varia Guardian. "Find him immediately! He might be hurt already!"

Gokudera could see how stressed Tsuna was about this, and for no reason other than that he didn't want to disappoint the brunet, he said, "I'll search the surrounding properties, Tenth."

~~XX~~

As expected, Gokudera was quick to find the younger Storm Guardian; way out in dense forest, the silver-haired man was led towards the other's location by pained screams, laughter, and the unmistakable sound of torture. Running as fast as he could, the Vongola Guardian activated his Storm Buckle, Uri leaping up onto his shoulder with a hiss.

Finally, making his way close enough to overhear what was being said, Gokudera started to creep along; he couldn't make his presence known just yet; he had to find out what was going on first.

"It would be only too easy for us to kill you here and now, you little brat."

Gokudera couldn't help but grow angry at this threat, knowing already that whoever had taken Bel was trying to get information out of him. He didn't care that someone was hurting the younger Guardian; all that mattered was that his family's privacy was at stake; if Bel slipped up…

"Tell us right now; what do you know of the Vongola and its allied forces?"

"…Fuck off…" Gokudera had never heard Bel sound so weak before; what were they doing to him? "Not… telling you shit…"

Gokudera flinched as the boy's scream filled the air next, hatred bubbling inside of him as whoever had hold of Bel spoke again; he couldn't forgive anyone who sought to harm the Tenth Generation boss.

"Unless you want to lose the other one, too, I suggest you speak up, boy."

Gokudera couldn't stand hearing this anymore, knowing he had to stop this now before Bel did speak; sending Uri on ahead, he prepared himself before stepping into the clearing, finally able to see the two men who were holding Bel down on the ground, blood all over him. These two men didn't look like anything special – in fact, they probably weren't special as Gokudera's sudden appearance was enough to make them look as if they had seen a ghost.

But if this was the case, how had they managed to get Bel in this state…? Different timelines or not, Bel was still a Varia Officer, an unstoppable force like the storm he symbolised; so how…?

Glaring angrily at the boy's attackers, he grabbed a stick of dynamite, ready to kill them here and now; if it were a fight they were after, they had gotten one.

"You two are the ones I suggest speak up; what are you doing with that brat?" Feeling Uri jump back onto his shoulder, Gokudera wasn't in the mood for bullshit; he wanted to get this over and done with and return to the mansion. "You want information on Vongola? You're not going to get it."

One of the two men standing over Bel sneered. Leaning down, he pulled said boy into his arms, using him as a human shield – a cowardly act, one telling Gokudera that these men truly stood no chance against him. "You wouldn't attack your comrade, would you? Tell us what we want to know, or I'll slit his throat."

Gokudera couldn't help but laugh, his own sneer crossing his face. "You really think I'd ever consider him my comrade? No; if it weren't for my boss giving me orders to bring him back, I wouldn't have even bothered coming out here looking for him. Your mistake is thinking I won't throw dynamite with him in front of you." With that said, the Storm Guardian was quick to toss his weapon, waiting for the familiar explosion before he moved forward to tower over the men he had knocked to the ground.

"I'll never consider him as a comrade, but my boss does." Leaning down, Gokudera snatched Bel into his arms, well aware that the dynamite had injured him, too. Sliding another stick of dynamite out of its sheathe, he flicked it into the air, saying, "If only for my boss, I'll be taking him back with me. Sayonara."

Throwing Bel over his shoulder, Gokudera heard the other groan in pain, felt the smaller body thrash a little before it fell limp, not another sound escaping the boy's lips. Gokudera was certain the younger had passed out, and he liked it that way; he didn't want to listen to the other's whining on the way back, after all.