When morning came and Hibari arrived at the facility, he became alert at the fact that the doors were unlocked and slightly ajar, meaning someone had gone through them some time through the night.

Stepping into the building, the first thing Hibari did was go to check on the patients, only to find them all missing. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he knew that if anyone had any idea of what had happened, it would be Tsuna; he had always been the therapist the patients flocked to the most.

The voice that soon answered the older male was sluggish, as if the other had barely gotten any sleep, and this only made the skylark suspicious of him.

"Herbivore." Threading his fingers through his soft raven locks, Hibari leant against the doorframe of Rasiel's bedroom. "Mind telling me where all of my patients have gone? I don't remember giving you permission to take them all home."

"Ah… I understand, but… They kind of found their own way here." Tsuna laughed nervously to himself on the other end of the line, knowing how mad his boss was going to be.

"What do you mean 'found their own way'? There has never been an issue with patients trying to escape before, not even from those twins; I find this ludicrous to believe."

"I know, but they're just upset that they're about to be separated; they don't want the facility to close down, and in their own little way, they're trying to stop it from happening."

"What is running away to you going to achieve, herbivore?" Hibari found himself getting more and more agitated with this conversation, stressed enough as it was.

"At least they're doing something about it," the brunet defended. "Even the slightest protest is better than sitting around doing nothing and waiting, and I'm proud that they've all worked together like this; people always said that they were beyond help because no other facility could handle them – but look at them now!"

"That's not the issue here; the issue is that they've escaped and made us look worse than we already do! I'm not –"

"- Hibari-san, arguing over the phone isn't going to accomplish anything," Tsuna pointed out. "Could you come over and we'll all discuss it together? These patients deserve a say, and legally, if they object to something, they're allowed to complain – but no one seems to remember this and instead wants to walk all over them and treat them as if they're voiceless animals."

Hibari fell silent at this accusation, knowing the younger was right; though they treated their patients better than most facilities that could be found, they had all been lost inside their own stresses and forgot that the patients had feelings as well. "…I'll be there around lunch time."

With that said, Hibari ended the call, wondering just what they were going to do now.

~~XX~~

When Tsuna exited his bedroom not long later, the first thing he did was go to check on the three sleeping in the living room; Rasiel was still fast asleep, and though Fran and Mukuro were stirring, he wasn't sure they were going to wake up any time soon.

Gokudera, also, was still asleep, it being so early in the morning, but Xanxus and Squalo were awake, the two lying close together as their lips joined together in passionate kisses. They were quick to break apart when they realised they were being watched, Squalo clearing his throat as he looked away uncomfortably.

"How long have you guys been together?" Putting his hand on Xanxus' shoulder, Tsuna knew he shouldn't be surprised; even though these two fought constantly with each other, they wouldn't have stuck like glue for eighteen years – much less have one go and retrieve the other the way Xanxus had - if there wasn't something between them.

Squalo looked away as he mumbled something incomprehensible while Xanxus just glared, annoyed that his intimacy with his lover had been disturbed; it had felt like forever since he had last touched the younger so affectionately, and it was something he had truly missed.

"I didn't catch that, Squalo." Noticing the large gash on the long-haired man's face, Tsuna frowned, wishing he had seen it last night so that he could tend to it; he would never forgive himself if the older male got an infection.

"I said, long enough…" Squalo sighed, dropping his head against his boyfriend's chest; he had never been comfortable with others seeing them like this, but he was honestly just too tired to really care now.

"What happened to your face?" Brushing his fingers against the surrounding area of the wound, Tsuna waited patiently for a reply.

Lifting his own digits to lightly caress the injury, Squalo frowned. "Rasiel cut me last night. He's a fucking freak…"

"It's going to need stitches; I'll take you to the hospital once I can."

"No!" Dark eyes flared with rage at the idea of going to a hospital; he couldn't fucking stand them and their judgemental, biased nurses. "It's fine! I don't need a shitty fucking hospital! I'll live!"

Understanding completely, Tsuna raised his hands into the air in a calming manner. "If you don't want to go, I won't force you, but I would feel better if you at least let me stitch it for you."

Squalo snorted. "Your shitty first aid qualification doesn't make you a medical expert. It's fine! I don't – Voi! What was that for?!" Turning to glare angrily at Xanxus, he raised a hand to rub at the back of his head, not sure why he had just been hit by the other.

"Get the stitches, you loud-mouth shark," Xanxus growled, raising his hand again, "or else I'll make you get them."

Sighing, Squalo reluctantly agreed to his therapist's help, nodding silently as the brunet said he would go and get everything ready and be back in a few minutes.

Turning to the older male, Squalo muttered, "I would have been fine without stitches, you bastard…"

"Don't you fucking take that chance, trash; not when I just got you back." Staring intently at the smaller male, Xanxus knew he had gotten his point across when the other just looked away, a soft expression crossing his face; Squalo would undoubtedly feel the same way he did, after all, not wanting to be apart ever again.

It didn't take long for Tsuna to come back out into the living room, and this time he had Fran by his side. Emerald eyes widened slightly as they noticed Xanxus and Squalo, remembering that Hibari had said the long-haired male was gone.

Approaching the two warily, the boy stepped over the still-sleeping Gokudera in order to get a better look at his fellow patients. He was silent for a few seconds before he asked, "Did you come back for good…?"

"I hope so, brat." Squalo was expecting for the conversation to drop as the younger nodded his head in acceptance – what he wasn't expecting was for Fran to reach out and take hold of his arm, slowly hugging it in a slack grip. "What the…?"

"I'm happy you're back…" Fran whispered, tightening his hold on the man now that he knew he wasn't going to be pushed away.

"Voi…" Unused to such contact, Squalo really wasn't sure what to do. He sighed before he used his free arm to wrap around the smaller male's shoulders, pulling him closer. When rewarded with a small gasp of surprise, the silver-haired male's face flushed with embarrassment as he looked away. He scratched at his cheek, looking anywhere but at Fran as he muttered, "…You can hug me properly, ya know…? I'm not gonna bite…"

Fran nodded before he moved to wrap his arms around the man's body instead, snuggling in close to him on the couch. Tsuna smiled as he watched Squalo return the embrace for a few seconds before pulling away, knowing the man always had been good with the younger patients; he had been one of Belphegor's favourites before the transfer, unfortunately having experienced enough abuse at the new facility to break him worse than he had ever been and causing the blond to fear Squalo for a long time.

Squalo really wasn't much of a caretaker, but there was something about him that had drawn Belphegor and, seemingly Fran, towards him, and he had heart enough to care for them – that was the important thing.

"Are you ready, Squalo?" Placing the first aid kit beside the silver-haired male, Tsuna took a better look at the wound, finding it was deeper than it had appeared at first. "I'll have to clean it out first. It might hurt because I can't numb it for you."

Scoffing, Squalo shrugged. "I can handle it, brat. Just get on with it already; don't treat me as if I'm fucking fragile."

"I'm sorry, Squalo; I just don't want to hurt you."

"Hurry the fuck up; you're hurting my patience."

Tsuna chuckled as he nodded, reaching out to pat Fran's head. "Do you want to watch, Fran? It might make you feel a bit queasy."

Fran frowned before he nodded his head, wanting to stay with Squalo; he liked the other's warm hugs, and he was sure that, if the older male was anything like him, he might want someone to hold his hand in case the stitches hurt him.

Tsuna couldn't help but smile, just glad to see his youngest patient coming through in leaps and bounds; getting him out of that facility was the best thing they could have done for him.

~~XX~~

Not long after everyone had eaten breakfast, Shoichi and Spanner arrived with their own patients. While most of them were as relaxed as ever as they let themselves inside, Belphegor was being difficult again; refusing to get out of the car, he kept shouting inaudibly and kicking out at the younger two, gripping tightly to the car door as he was tugged at constantly.

The blond soon came semi-peacefully once he had tired himself out, growling whenever the staff members came too close to him; some things would never change.

"Hibari-san should be here soon." Tsuna, who had come out to help his friends with Belphegor, instead held the door open for the blond as the young man pushed past him, a slight limp to his gait. "Is he alright?"

"He's fine," Shoichi promised, clapping the brunet on the shoulder as he and Spanner stepped up onto the porch themselves. "We gave him a heat pack and he's been resting all morning; we got him out only when he needed to get dressed and into the car."

"What happened to him?" Unaware of the feelings the Millefiore psychiatrist held towards Belphegor, Tsuna was worried someone had hurt him – so when they told him the truth, needless to say, he was surprised.

"He joined us in bed last night." Spanner closed the front door behind them, finding that they were still alone for now.

"Is that why he's so agitated?" Knowing what Belphegor was like, it wouldn't be surprising if he was stressed because of any negativity he had picked up the night prior.

"No; he was very well-behaved all morning." The redhead adjusted his glasses, smiling gently. "He just didn't want to get out of bed, so he's throwing another one of his tantrums."

Tsuna chuckled, turning to step into the living room. He was surprised when he found Belphegor shoving Leviathan off the couch, instead taking his place and curling up between Squalo and the arm of the furniture. He dropped his head onto the long-haired man's lap, burying his face against the other's stomach as he made himself comfortable.

Squalo cleared his throat in uneasiness before he reached down, patting blond hair. He caressed the other's head slowly as he allowed the other to use his lap as a pillow, seeing how exhausted the younger was; Belphegor deserved rest, even if it was making Squalo uncomfortable.

"Is everyone here?" Looking around at the group, Tsuna nodded to himself; everyone was present and accounted for. "Hibari-san will be here soon. I don't know what the Kokuyo facility already has or will do about last night, but we'll cross that bridge when it arises. It's just… I don't know what we can do to help you guys. We know you all hate this, but it's not like we can keep the facility open if we're told no."

"Why can't we stay here?" Mammon asked, leaning against the wall. "That'll solve the problem of fighting it."

"I would love to, but there's too many problems with that." Scratching his cheek, Tsuna's eyes softened. "I don't have the room to keep everyone here, and the board would never allow for it. Lussuria is the only one of you who could leave right now if he wanted to; he's a voluntary patient, and all he has to do is say he wants to leave. The rest of you don't have that luxury."

"But you have Fran with you," Squalo pointed out. "And they have Belphegor. Why are they staying and we can't?"

"I cleared Fran with Hibari-san before all of this; when the board came out to look, he slipped Fran through the cracks. In Belphegor's case, he's being rehabilitated outside of the facility, but he's in the same boat as you; whatever happens to you all… will happen to him, too; he hasn't got any special treatment; he's simply trying to be rehabilitated so he can live a more normal life instead of the way he already is."

"But we don't want to go back if we're only going to be shipped off anyway," Lussuria protested.

"You have the freedom to leave care, Lussuria," Shoichi said gently. "If you don't want to go somewhere else, walk out now. You're a voluntary patient."

"I don't want to do that, though; I've been here for so long, I wouldn't know what to do if I were living normally again…" Fumbling with his hands anxiously, the flamboyant male added on, "I can't live by myself… I'm not… stable enough emotionally… And I won't leave my friends!"

"Let us stay!" The staff members could see how worked up the patients were becoming, and they knew they needed to do something to help them. "We're not going to other facilities! It's fucking bullshit!"

It was Spanner who was the next to speak. "What if we split them up amongst ourselves?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've got Fran. You'd most definitely take Mukuro into your home as well if you could. I would take Belphegor. I'm sure we can work out where to place the others; Sho, would you mind if we took a couple of them in?"

"As long as we have the room for them all, and they're going to be happy and comfortable, I have no objections." Shoichi reached out, putting his hand on his lover's arm. He stared into Spanner's eyes, his eyes shining with love, knowing he could not have picked someone better to have fallen in love with.

"See?" Tilting his head slightly, Spanner could see that the therapist was considering his words. "I'm sure the others wouldn't mind taking some in, too. Where is Gokudera? We can ask him."

"He's at therapy, but I can talk to him later." Looking around at all of the hopeful gazes surrounding him, Tsuna couldn't help but want to take this request to Hibari, though he wasn't sure if the other would listen or not; the skylark was stubborn, and though he was only trying to do the right thing and follow the rules, he didn't always take into account of others' feelings.

Before anything more was said, a knock on the door had Tsuna scurrying to let his boss into the house, knowing not to make him wait for a second longer lest Hibari's agitation grow. Opening the door, the brunet bowed low before giving the other room to enter.

"Hibari-san, you may be interested to know that we've possibly come up with a solution to this…" Leading the older male into the living room, Tsuna took his seat once again while the skylark leant against the wall. "We were just discussing if it would be possible if we could take the patients into our homes instead."

"And just how would that work, pray tell?" Narrowing his eyes, Hibari didn't approve at all of this decision. "If you take that course of action and start working again, who will be home to care for them? On top of that, how would you get them home in the first place when the board will be looking over all documentation of their transfers?"

"I'll talk to Enma," Tsuna promised, trying his hardest to compromise. "I could ask him to send the board paperwork saying they've accepted transfers, and then once everyone's satisfied, he can discharge them so they're not on record. I know he wouldn't mind doing it."

While Hibari knew the other's friend would help them if asked, he still wasn't convinced. "And what of the shark herbivore?"

"As I said earlier, we'll work that out when it comes up. Hibari-san… Look at them; they were all willing to get into trouble just to make a point. Please… Don't do this to them; they've all been through enough as it is."

As much as Hibari wanted to say no, to stick to the rules, he wasn't sure he could do it this time; he wasn't used to breaking rules himself, but when it came to the patients he had cared for for so many years, he had often found himself breaking them as often as his employees. Would it really hurt to do it just one more time if it was what would benefit them the most?

"Do you even have room for them all, herbivores?" Shaking his head, Hibari wasn't sure why he was even asking this.

"If we could split them up between all of us, there should be plenty of room for them," Shoichi explained. "Would you be willing to take some?"

Looking between all of the patients, Hibari knew he wasn't cut out for opening his home to others; sharing it with his lover was hard enough for him. …But just like animals on the street, these people deserved homes and family that would love them, too; was it really fair of him to turn them away just because he didn't feel comfortable around others…?

"I would take the shark herbivore, and that's it." Knowing how Dino would love for his childhood friend to stay with them, Hibari would accept Squalo and Squalo only. "No one else."

"Oi, if he goes, I go," Xanxus growled.

"Yeah, Xanxus is right." Tsuna, always willing to stand up for his friends, nodded. "Those two come together; it's either both of them or none at all."

Clenching his hands in irritation, Hibari felt himself ready to snap, not appreciating at all how the younger was trying to tell him what to do. "I said I would take one, and that's final."

"But Xanxus really isn't all that hard, Hibari-san; he sits somewhere quietly most of the time, and he wouldn't bother you – besides, Squalo can't be without him; it wouldn't be good for either of them to be split up, especially since Xanxus tried his best to get them back together. If you won't take both of them, I'm sure Yamamoto would be thrilled to open his home to them instead."

Hating the idea of being outdone, Hibari was quick to counter this. "Fine. I'll take them both. What about you, Sawada?"

"I've got Fran, but I would take Mukuro, too; there's plenty of room for them both here."

Turning next to Shoichi and Spanner, the skylark asked them the same question.

"Belphegor, Viper, and Byakuran."

Raising an eyebrow, Hibari crossed his arms against his chest. "That's a dangerous combination; the marshmallow herbivore is known for causing trouble with those two."

"I know him well enough to know he won't go with anyone else," Shoichi explained. "We're going to work hard with him, and I know Viper has the capabilities to be a leader; I trust her to be able to help keep peace with at least Belphegor."

"That still leaves three patients." Looking at Rasiel, Leviathan and Lussuria, Hibari knew he wasn't willing to take any of them in as well. "Would the other two herbivores take them?"

"In all honesty, I think Lussuria would be best going back out into society," the brunet said. He smiled at the aforementioned patient when the other whimpered, soothing him. "As long as his Bipolar is stable, he is just fine and capable of looking after himself and others. Enma also has a property for rent just around the corner; we can move him and Leviathan into that and help them adjust back into normal life; I'm sure Lussuria would be thrilled to have someone to keep him company."

"And the blond herbivore?"

"For the time being I will take him, and once Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun are better, I'm sure Yamamoto would love to take him instead." Smiling at their patient, Tsuna knew Rasiel deserved a home and as much love as the others; it was just a matter of putting him with someone capable of caring for him.

"You really think he'll take the same person who murdered his dog? Ludicrous."

"You don't know Yamamoto very well if that's what you think, Hibari-san." Brown eyes softened as Tsuna continued on. "He isn't one to hold grudges, and he knows it was done by mentally ill people; he knows it's not truly them to blame."

Closing his eyes, Hibari knew Tsuna was right; he didn't know his employees on a personal level because he wasn't particularly close to anyone, even Dino; he had so many barriers placed around him, it was hard to let others in and become close to them – hell, it had taken a long time for his relationship with his own partner to be based on more than just lust.

The skylark had often been told he wouldn't be any good at his job because of this, and maybe, on some level, they were right, but if he had lasted as long as he had in this field, he must have been doing something right.

"This had better work, because if anything happens to any of these patients, it's on your heads." With that said, Hibari pointed to Squalo and Xanxus, a stoic expression on his face. "You two. Get in the car. We're leaving."

Squalo frowned, freezing the hand he was still stroking Belphegor's head with. He looked down at the younger, not wanting to wake the blond by moving while the other was so comfortable where he was.

Shoichi and Spanner also stood up, approaching the long-haired male, explaining that they, too, had to leave. Spanner leant down to pick his fellow blond up, only to stop as Belphegor protested sleepily, mumbling something as he gripped tightly to the other Varia patient.

"I've got him…" Getting to his own feet slowly, Squalo held his friend close as he carried the younger outside. He stood by Shoichi's car as he waited for them to say goodbye, and once the vehicle had been unlocked, he sat Belphegor in the back, caressing his face as he soothed the smaller man back into sleep. After doing the seatbelt up and resting him against the window, the silver-haired male muttered, "See you around, brat…"

Walking back towards the house, Squalo stopped to farewell Mammon, feeling uncomfortable about getting into Hibari's car without Xanxus by his side; this whole situation was new to him, and he would be lying if he said it didn't scare him; he had been locked away for so long, he could barely remember what was expected of him now that he had freedom.

Glad to see that Xanxus and Hibari were coming out now themselves, a soft smile slipped itself onto Squalo's face as he slipped his hand into the stronger man's, careful not to let Hibari see; enough people knew of their relationship as it was, and no one else needed to know.

Inside the house, Tsuna smiled as he looked over the remaining patients; while Fran was at school, Mukuro, Rasiel, Lussuria and Leviathan had made themselves comfortable within the living room, seemingly content with what had happened.

"Guys, I have to go and get Gokudera-kun from his appointment." Checking his wristwatch, Tsuna scratched his cheek idly. "Can you guys keep an eye on Siel for me until I get back? Keep him in line. I'll talk to my friend, Enma, and sort everything out later today. Mukuro, you're in charge."

Nodding, Mukuro leant back against the couch, knowing he could handle things here easily; all they had to do was keep Rasiel out of trouble.

Doing so was simple enough; it seemed that even the older twin was happy with the way things were at the moment as he just sat quietly on the couch until Tsuna came back, reading books he had picked out of the bookshelf.

It was understandable they were all happy to be out of the facility, and one could only hope it would lead to them all to making more improvement than they would have otherwise.