A/N I don't really like this chapter, to be honest. I think it's really poor and... well, just not good, but it's necessary.

"Why did the prince get partnered up with you?" Bel scowled as he trudged along through the thick forest of Japan with Mukuro by his side. "The prince hates you."

"I'm not too fond of you myself, Belphewhore." The blue-haired male sneered. "The only reason I'm doing this is because I demand to know what you were doing with my little one in the future."

"The prince is not a whore!" Bel argued. He pulled three of his knives from his pocket, holding them threateningly before him. "That stupid little brat is the whore!"

Mukuro narrowed his eyes seconds before he cast an illusion, trapping the older teenager in darkness so thick, there was nothing around the blond. He spoke, knowing the Varia Storm would hear him.

"The boy is seven, you cruel piece of work," Mukuro found himself hissing. "He doesn't even know what sex is. Don't you ever call him a whore again."

"Yeah, well, the prince isn't gay, either," Bel growled. "The stupid frog seduced him!"

"But if you weren't gay, you wouldn't have given into his advances if that's even the truth," the younger male pointed out. "How do you know you're not gay?"

"Because the prince has lots of sex with girls." The smaller male nodded to himself. "See? Lots of girls. They always get him off - never guys. That's how I know."

In a teasing tone, the blue-haired teenager replied, "Belphewhore just hasn't found the right guy yet. Give it ten years time and then we'll see."

"Asshole."

Bel frowned, quickening his pace. "I hate you. I wish they'd never gotten you out of Vendice. I wish you and the frog were dead."

Mukuro just laughed as he watched Bel storm through the forest, heading towards the rest house they were trying to find. He knew Bel didn't like him - it was a mutual thing between them, after all - Mukuro just wasn't enough of a jerk to act on his feelings.

~~Belphegor~~

Bel's frown deepened with each passing minute as he stumbled through the now-dark forest. He must have been out here for hours trying to find his way as he should have made it to the rest house long before nightfall. Right now, that was the least of his problems.

Stupid Mist Guardian trying to confuse me... Bel grabbed a knife and threw it at the tree in front of him, growling as he did so. The prince isn't gay, and he doesn't want some stupid pineapple trying to make him believe he is. Stupid pineapples and stupid frogs!

It had been a while since Bel had felt this upset - having lived with the Varia since he was just eight-years-old had pushed him into a lot of different experiences, but living in a conflicting situation involving an openly gay peacock and an equally homophobic shark had messed with his views on alternative lifestyles.

Before he came to the Varia, he didn't even know that men could like other men in that way. When he first met Lussuria, he had barely batted an eyelid upon hearing about his orientation, not bothered in the least by it. But when Squalo's homophobic side would make an appearance, Bel started to believe that Lussuria's lifestyle was wrong and unacceptable, developing his own homophobic attitude similar to the one he had been raised with.

"The prince isn't a fag, and he never will be..." Bel muttered as he sat down, resting his back against the trunk of a large tree. He was tired and, as royalty, used to getting five-star accommodation wherever he went. "Squ-Squ would hate the prince if he were a fag anyway..."

The blond couldn't quite put a finger on why it bothered him so much when others pointed out he had been in a relationship with another male in the future - it wasn't just the fact that he was against that kind of thing; he knew there was something more to it. Was it the fact that he would probably be rejected by his fellow

Varia members the same way Lussuria was? That the others may never look at him, treat him the same way again?

"I hate being confused..." Bel let himself drop to the ground, curling into a ball. It was true - he resented being confused; he liked having everything laid out before him, his genius mind piecing together the puzzle. But this... This was just...

"So this is where you've been hiding."

Bel glanced up as he heard Mukuro's voice. He just shrugged at the younger male as the Vongola Mist leant next to him, too tired and hungry to argue.

"I've been waiting for you at the rest house for eight hours now." Mukuro reached out, grabbing Bel by the shoulders. "I almost started believing a wolf had eaten you before I remembered you're too scrawny to hardly be a snack."

"Fuck you..." Bel muttered, not resisting as he was pulled into Mukuro's arms.

"Kufufu~ Told you you like boys." The younger male chuckled to himself as he carried the blond through the forest - he knew he should feel guilty it was his fault the stuck-up prince had ran off in the first place, but he didn't care; he couldn't. He hated the Mafia and really wanted nothing to do with them - he was just stuck in an unfortunate situation in which he owed the VongolaDecimo for his freedom.

"Why are you so desperate to deny liking males?" Mukuro questioned, genuinely interested in Bel's reasoning - if the older teenager had been in a relationship with Fran - albeit a different timeline - then surely that proved it?

"Because Squ-Squ and the prince don't like it." Bel shuddered inexplicably.

"Hmm? Is it because you're against it, or are you just worried about what your comrade will think?" A knowing smirk crossed Mukuro's face.

"..." For once, Bel didn't have a reply. Was what the blue-haired male said true? Was he just... conscious of the fact that most of the Varia were homophobes?

That can't be right... Bel shook his head to clear his thoughts. I don't care about them - much less about what they think of me. ...So why does my chest hurt when I think they might push me away...?

Fucking stupid pineapples... I'm going to stab the shit out of one when I get back to Italy...