"Hey, Master?"

Mukuro looked down at his apprentice as they walked through the abandoned building the older male called home. "What is it?"

Fran frowned before he spoke up, voicing the thoughts he just couldn't shake. "Did you... have weird dreams, too?"

"Hmm? I have weird dreams all the time, little one." Mukuro chuckled. "Be more descriptive."

"...Did they... make you think you could be dreaming about the future...?" Fran was almost sure Mukuro was going to laugh and call him stupid - but to his surprise, the teenager nodded.

"The truth is, they weren't dreams." Mukuro knelt down so that he was eye-level with the younger. He patted the apple illusion gently as he explained. "They were really memories your future self sent back to you."

"What?" Fran frowned. "But... That doesn't make any sense, Master. I thought you were smart."

"Well, you asked. What made you ask me? I thought you didn't have those memories." Mukuro stood back up and started walking, listening to the soft pattering as Fran followed after him.

"It's... It's the people from before... They were just like the people from my dreams, Master. Even... Even your eyes are the same..."

"As I said, they're memories." Mukuro stopped walking again, turning around to look down at the boy. "They're memories of a future that would have been if it wasn't changed."

"But... There was so much weird, Master!" Fran waved his arms around in the air as if to emphasise this point. "There... There was flying elephants, and... And a man with wings! Wings, Master! Like an angel!"

"Kufufu~" The teenager's eyes glinted with amusement. "I know. I was there, little one."

The boy's nose crinkled at these words. "Okay, then. If you're trying to convince me they're memories, then you tell me what happened."

Mukuro smirked as he recounted his own memories of the future, cementing Fran's own perspective of what had happened. However, despite how accurate the blue-haired male was in his retelling, there was just one thing he had left out - but to his own defence, he had never been aware of this particular part of the future until Fran mentioned it to him.

"You forgot something, Master." The fragile boy looked so serious, Mukuro stopped smirking.

"What would that be?" A malicious glint shone in heterochromatic eyes, the teenger's dislike for losing making itself known.

"What Bel-senpai and I did together."

"How would I know what you two did together?" There was an annoyed undertone in Mukuro's voice at this question.

"Because I don't understand it myself." The younger's frown grew. "It's too confusing."

"And why's that?" Mukuro was tempted to up and leave, but something about the way Fran grew tense and gave out an uncertain, hesitant aura made him stay - knowing Bel, the two could have been doing anything in the future, and it may not have been consensual on Fran's part.

"Because Grandma always warned me about taking my clothes off for other people, but I remember doing that with Bel-senpai." Fran looked so innocent, Mukuro felt as if he were a father hearing that his daughter had been sexually abused.

"..." The teenager really didn't know what to say to the boy - what could he say? "...I..."

"I let him bad-touch me..." The boy tilted his head, as if trying to understand this.

"It's not a bad-touch if you consented to it, little one." Mukuro patted the apple illusion once more, his voice soft. "Did you like it? Did you say yes to it?"

Fran nodded. "I think I did. But I remember it hurting."

Oh, God, they've done it.. "That's normal." Really? I'm useless at this.

"What was it we were doing?" Curiosity had made its way into Fran's voice, replacing the previous emotions.

"...Sex..." Mukuro mumbled. "That's what it was..."

"Sex? Can we have sex, Master?" Fran's teal eyes blinked innocently up at his teacher, not understanding the severity of what he had just asked.

"No!" Mukuro couldn't help but snap, horrified to be asked for such a thing. He knew Fran was only young and didn't understand, but damnit did that question made him feel dirty. "Don't ever ask me for that again!"

Fran could only blink as he watched Mukuro storm down the hallway. "Was it something I said?"

With the shrug, the boy continued on to his room, deciding it wasn't important.

~~Varia~~

"Hey, fag."

"What is it, Squalo, dear?" Lussuria perked up as Squalo walked into the living room, only to be let down as the younger man snapped at him.

"Not you, fag!" The silver-haired male shouted. "I'm talking to the other fag!"

"Calling out 'fag' to address just one of us is about as helpful as Boss screaming 'trash' and then telling just one of us to do something," Leviathan pointed out.

"Stay the fuck out of it!" Squalo roared before turning back to look at the couch Lussuria and Bel were seated on. "Fag!"

"Yes?" Lussuria - purely out of being so accustomed to this manner of address by Squalo - asked again.

"The blond faggot!" The other three occupants of the room were almost certain they could see the veins on Squalo's forehead about to pop.

"The prince is not a faggot." Bel glared at his superior, placing the PSP he was holding down on his lap. "Don't talk to a prince like that, you stupid shark."

"You little bastard!" Squalo came closer, but Bel wasn't scared of him; he merely picked up his console and started pressing buttons again. "I should snap your scrawny little neck!"

Bel just shrugged, blocking Squalo's ranting out like he was used to.

"Voi!" Squalo turned to Lussuria next, his eyes narrowed as his face grew redder than before. "Tell the prince trash he's got a mission with the Vongola brats next week!" Throwing a folder at the Sun Guardian, he snarled, "Details!"

"Oh, okay, dear." Lussuria opened the folder, knowing Bel wouldn't care if the other saw the details of his mission. He looked at the section titled 'partners', and was surprised to see that he had been paired up with Mukuro.

It was unusual for a member of the Varia to be partnered on missions without another Varia member, but it happened - usually for missions that were supposed to be easy but still had the possibility of turning dangerous fast; the Varia member was usually only there as an added precaution to the others assigned the mission.

Lussuria couldn't be certain because Belphegor was an unpredictable little brat at times, but he was almost sure the blond wouldn't like this at all.