When Lussuria went up to Bel's bedroom that night to call the two boys down for dinner, he was horrified to find Fran asleep in the older boy's bed because almost immediately, the worst-case scenario played through his head; had Bel snapped again? Hurt him? Had his cruel personality come out once more?

Lussuria was tense as he made his way over to the bed. He held his breath as he shook the child's shoulder, whispering his name. "Fran. Fran, wake up, hun."

Fran blinked a few times to clear the haze from his eyes before he looked up at Lussuria. "…?"

"Hun, why are you in Bel's bed?" Lussuria questioned in a gentle manner. "Did he hurt you?"

Fran shook his head as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "…I… fell asleep, I guess."

"He didn't hurt you?" Lussuria reached out and picked Fran up. He held the kid close to his chest and let out a sigh of relief when the boy's head was shaken once again. "Thank goodness."

Fran didn't want to be held by this man, but he was too tired to protest. His eyes slipped closed once again as he was carried out of the room and down the corridor, almost unable to keep them open from the fatigue he was feeling. Lussuria could see how exhausted Fran was, but he couldn't let the other skip dinner – not when the teal-haired child had barely eaten over the few days he had been here.

It was quiet as the two entered the dining room; the other kids were sitting at the table eating their dinner, and nothing had been said between them until Lussuria placed Fran down on one of the chairs and broke the silence.

"Has anyone seen Bel?" Lussuria's worry increased once again as everyone shrugged.

"No one cares." Ryohei was the one to respond.

"Don't be like that, hun," Lussuria said softly, pained that the younger could talk like that about the blond. "Bel-chan is very important to all of us here."

Fran, remembering what had been said earlier that day, spoke up. "Ryohei said everyone hates Bel-senpai."

"Of course not, dear!" The man sounded horrified by the accusation, as if he couldn't believe something so nasty had been said. "Bel is precious to us adults. He's always been the one we've had to protect and love. You kids eat your dinner while I go look for him."

Fran pushed his plate away; he had no intention of eating it because the smell of the ramen was making his stomach churn. "I want to come."

Lussuria wanted to argue and make him stay to eat, but he knew that, even if he made the boy stay, Fran wouldn't eat anyway; he might as well get the kid out of the house for a while since the poor thing was probably bored out of his mind with having nothing to do. "Come on, then, hun."

Fran yawned as he stood up and followed Lussuria to the front door. "Why are we going outside? Wouldn't Bel-senpai still be in the house?"

"I doubt it; sometimes he goes to the park just down the street so he can be alone."

Fran nodded. Nothing more was said between them as they walked down the street; the darkness that engulfed them and the cold night air that made Fran's body start to shake didn't do well for the tense atmosphere. The kid felt almost unnerved as he followed Lussuria to the end of the street; he had never been outside at night before, and his young mind was almost convincing him that monsters would jump out at him any second now.

But Lussuria seemed fearless of any monsters and it was because of that Fran was able to make it to the park. His eyes squinted through the darkness, but he was able to make out a faint figure sitting on top of the metal monkey-bars once the light of the moon glinted down upon them.

"Is that Bel-senpai?" Fran sure hoped it was; he wasn't really liking being outside and he wanted to go back to his room.

Lussuria nodded. He leant down to pick Fran up and hold him close as they approached. "That's him."

Bel didn't seem to notice anyone was approaching him; he was too busy staring up at the sky and waving his arm in the air as if he were trying to grasp a piece of the night sky. He turned around slowly when the sound of the bark crunching beneath footsteps got louder and louder, and even through the thin film of light the moon was providing, Fran could still make out the heartbroken frown on his face.

"Leave the prince alone, Luss…" Bel mumbled. He turned his back towards the male again, not wanting to talk to anyone; he just wanted to be left alone.

"Give me the knife, Bel." Lussuria sounded sad as he held his hand out. The teal-haired male cocked his head to the side; knife? How had Lussuria known the other had a knife? He hadn't even noticed one.

Bel sighed, but he did as he was told and held a kitchen knife out to the man. His voice was hoarse as if he had been crying for hours, and the sad part was, the man knew he had been; the blond wouldn't have come out here like this if he hadn't been. "I just wants to die… Why do you insist on me living when I don't want to…?"

"Come down so I can see your wrists, Bel."

"No." Bel sniffed as he pulled his arms to his chest protectively. "You can't just let me die in peace…?"

"No one needs to die, Bel-chan," Lussuria said gently. "We just want to help you. That's all. Please, come down."

Bel knew it would just be easier to do as told because the man wasn't going to leave him alone anytime soon; Lussuria would only keep bothering him, and he really wasn't in the mood for it at all. He was reluctant to get off the monkey bars, but he knew that it was just easier for him to listen for once; it would save him the lecture he would undoubtedly get if he refused, after all.

When the blond was on the ground, Lussuria reached out and turned Bel's pale arms over so that his wrists were exposed. It broke his heart to see the blood that flowed in rivers, and he desperately wished he could help the boy. He was silent as he put Fran onto the ground so that he could place both of his hands over the wounds in hopes that it would stem the bleeding. "You're going to need stitches again, hun; thank goodness you were cutting across and not down."

Bel whimpered as he was picked up. He struggled in Lussuria's hold before he stopped as the blood loss caused his head to spin. He felt as if he were going to throw up as his vision went black and his ears started to ring, feelings all too familiar to him causing him distress.

Lussuria had seen this sudden weakness all too often when Bel tried to kill himself; he had to hurry and get him to the hospital before the blood loss became too much for him to handle. He made sure that Bel was cradled safely in one arm so that he could use his free hand to hold Fran's as he pulled the younger along back to the Varia Orphanage.

It didn't take long for Lussuria to get back to the orphanage, but by the time he had opened the door to his car parked on the side of the road, his worry heightened as he noticed Bel's eyes had slipped closed and the boy's breathing had become ragged; he desperately wished he had tried harder to get Bel to come down sooner, and maybe they would have had more time to get him medical treatment. The man laid the blond down on the back seat of his car before he helped Fran in as well and then got into the car himself, thankful that he always kept his keys on him for emergencies like this; in a situation like this, every second counted.

The drive to the hospital was a quick one as the location of Varia was chosen specifically for its proximity to their local hospital. Lussuria parked in emergencies, not caring that he had taken up some of the space of the park next to him, and got out of the car. He was careful as he pulled an unconscious Bel into his arms, and after waiting briefly for Fran to get out of the car, he hurried into the hospital.

Lussuria knew it was depressing that the staff in reception only had to take just one look at Bel before they called immediately for the doctor specifically allocated for Varia; Bel had been here enough times for suicide attempts to be on first name basis with the staff.

"Come on, hun." Lussuria looked down at Fran as he started walking again. "We have to hurry."

Fran followed, but he found the nurses rushing back and forth unsettling; he didn't know what it was about this place, but he really hated the atmosphere, even if he couldn't work out why. He kept his head lowered, but he lifted it again once they turned into a room and a voice he had never heard before filled the air.

"Him again, huh?"

Fran found a man, with shaggy brown hair and a white coat, staring at them with his nose scrunched up. He cocked his head to the side, wondering who this man was and how Lussuria knew him – but before he could question it, the other spoke again.

"He cut himself again, didn't he?" The man gestured to the hospital bed sitting against the wall opposite them as he stood up from the desk he had been sitting at.

Lussuria nodded as he gently lowered Bel down on the bed and did his best not to jostle the injured arm. "I don't know if it was a suicide attempt or not."

The stranger grabbed the bloodied arm so that he could examine it. "Needs stitches."

Lussuria moved to sit on one of the chairs in the corner. He was biting at his nails as he watched the man clean out the wound. It was when they started to be stitched up did he turn his attention to Fran, not wanting to watch the procedure; it made him feel queasy knowing this was his precious Bel lying unconscious on the hospital bed having self-inflicted injuries cared for. "Shamal's a good doctor; he doesn't treat any other males except for our boys."

"…Why…?" Fran looked up into the black sunglasses, curious as to what this reason could be; he also had learnt what the other was, too – now all that was left was to find out what a doctor was.

"He's an old acquaintance of Xanxus and Squalo. I'm not sure the details but there was an accident and the two saved him. It's Shamal repaying a debt to them by looking after the kids."

"Oh…" Fran turned back to Bel and watched as white bandages were wrapped carefully around the skinny arm. His eyes wandered to the bloodied rags sitting beside Bel that had been used to clean the blood and wounds. He couldn't help but wince; that was a lot of blood, and Fran hadn't realised there was so much in one body until now. What horrified the child even more was the amount of blood on Lussuria's clothing he had only just noticed; no wonder the blond looked like he was dead.

"I'll keep him here overnight." Shamal shook his head as his eyes wandered over his patient's fragile body; he had seen the younger in worse condition, but still, he hated seeing this. "I want to get some blood into him to compensate for what he's lost."

Lussuria nodded. Tears trailed down his cheeks at those words; it always broke his heart whenever the blond would land himself in hospital but he had to keep in mind it was something he could never understand, no matter how hard he tried – he had never lived the life Bel had and no amount of pretending would ever help him relate.

Fran was silent. He didn't know what he was supposed to say or do or even feel right now; all he knew was that he honestly hoped Bel would be okay because for some reason, the idea of losing his new friend was painful.