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[sharkyassassin]

Who: Squalo and Dino
What: Squalo and Dino have a talk
When: June 25th
Where: Hibari's hospital room briefly, then the courtyard
Rating: Pg-13/R, mostly because of Squalo's mouth >_>
A/N Notes: So...This should have been up a while ago, but I've been slacking.  Sorry about that!

Squalo, after learning what had happened, had headed over to the hospital. While he had no interest in the brat that held Dino’s interest at the moment, he wanted to see how his...whatever he was, was holding up. He had never done well when someone he had cared about was hurt. Mostly, he wanted to yell at Cavallone for being an idiot and getting involved with someone as dangerous as they were. Didn’t he ever learn?

Dino was still sitting beside Kyouya’s bed, watching his lover’s peaceful face as he slept. Kyouya was getting better, that was for sure, but the man was still week and he needed his rest.

The don Cavallone himself was doing only slightly better. He hadn’t managed to get more than few hours of sleep lately and the fact that he still couldn’t find out who the culprit was certainly didn’t make it any better. If anything, it only added to things he should worry about.

Dino only wished this problem would be solved soon.

Squalo quickly found out which room the kid was staying in and headed over there. If anything else, he was going to give Bucking Horse a piece of his mind. Instead of acting so miserable, he should have been out there, looking for the one who did this. Instead, he was sitting on his ass.

He barged into the room with that thought in mind, planning on yelling at him. The look on Dino’s face made him pause though. With a sigh, he leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms.

“You look like shit, Cavallone.”

Dino jumped on his chair when someone barged into the room. He turned his head around quickly, his heart racing. When he saw Squalo, though, Dino felt relief ran through his body, leaving him slumping on the chair again.

“Squalo! You surprised the shit out of me!” he announced, ignoring the long haired man’s words. “Nice to see you well and in one piece after so long.” he added with a grin.

Squalo snorted at that. “I was eaten by a fucking shark and still survived. It’s going to take a hell of a lot to kill me.” He looked at Dino. “Now, do you want to continue this here and risk having the brat wake up, or go somewhere more private?”

Dino laughed. “Well, I do hope you won’t be killed anytime soon.” he commented.

Hearing Squalo’s question, Dino hesitated slightly. He certainly didn’t want to risk Kyouya waking up and hearing their conversation, but he also didn’t want to leave the dark haired man alone.

Squalo rolled his eyes when he saw Dino hesitate. Really, he should know better by now. “If you don’t get off your ass this instant Cavallone, I’ll make sure that the kid wakes up. And I’ll blame it on you.”

“W-wha-? You can’t do that, Squalo!” Except Dino knew he could. The blond man grumbled even as he stood up from his chair. “Alright, alright. I’ll ask Romario to watch him while we talk.” he conceded at last.

“Where do you want to talk?”

He gave a shrug. “I don’t know the hospital here, so you pick. Just pick a place where you can get your skinny ass some food.” He wasn’t concerned about Dino. Not at all.

“...I’m not hungry.” Dino murmured. “Besides, the cafeteria is not somewhere private. It might be better if we talk at the hospital’s garden. It’s not too crowded there.” he explained, walking out of the room and closing the door silently after Squalo had went out too.

“Cavallone, you’re getting food in you, even if I have to force it down your fucking throat,” Squalo hissed, trying, for once, to keep his voice low. “We’ll make a pit stop at the cafeteria, then go to garden.” With that, Squalo began stomping off in the direction he remembered the cafeteria was, fully expecting Dino to follow him.

For a moment, Dino just watched his friend walking away, an exasperated smile on his face. Really, Squalo’s way of showing his concern was peculiar. He gave his men the order to not letting anyone enter Kyouya’s room until he returned before following Squalo, knowing that the long haired man would really be angry at him if he didn’t.

“Have you eaten yet, Squalo?” he asked once he reached Squalo’s side.`

“No, I haven’t. And I’m not planning on eating shitty cafeteria food either,” he told the don as he continued on his way.

“Hey, come on, now. If you want me to eat, then you should eat something too!” Dino shot, scowling at his friend. “I don’t want to be the only person here who is forced to eat the ‘shitty cafeteria food’!”

“The difference between me and you is I’m going to eat when I leave here. Are you going to eat once I leave?” Squalo pointed out.

Ukh. “If I say I will, does it mean I could not eat right now?” Dino asked hopefully.

“No, because I know that you’re just lying to me.” Oh yes, he knew his friend very well by now.

“W-What makes you said that? I’m not lying!” Okay, so perhaps he had the intention to lie, but looked like he couldn’t do it anymore now.

Squalo rolled his eyes and reached over to cuff him on the back of his head. “Don’t fucking treat me like I’m an idiot.”

“Auch!” Dino rubbed the abused spot as he gave Squalo a glare. “I’m not treating you like an idiot! Don’t hit people whenever you feel like it!” he knew it was futile saying it to Squalo, though.

“I only hit morons,” he told him. Never mind that was most of the world’s population. “And yes, you are treating me like an idiot because you’re lying to me.”

“I’m not a moron.” Dino said indignantly. “And I’m not lying to you!” Yet, at the very least.

Squalo snorted. “Everyone’s a moron to me, you know that. And yeah, you were. You weren’t going to eat after I left.”

“Yeah, I do know that, but at least I hope I’m one exception for that.” Dino sighed. He sometimes wondered why he couldn’t lie to the people close to him. Maybe that was the exact reason, though. Squalo knew him. “Alright, alright. I’ll go grab something at the cafeteria.” He conceded at last.

“Tch. Maybe you’re not a moron all the time. But you are right now.” Squalo was willing to give a little. Just because Dino looked like a kicked puppy at the moment. “Good. Because I really was prepared to force feed you if I had to.”

“Force feed me?” Dino raised his eyebrow. “...You know, Squalo, you really should learn to show that you care about other people in a slightly... softer way.” he added lightly.

Squalo gave a small growl and scowled. “I don’t fucking care. You’re just going to be useless if you’re fucking starving yourself.”

Dino didn’t even bother to hide his grin. “Yes, yes. That was what you said when you saved me from all the bullies back at school.” He looped his arm around Squalo’s shoulder in friendly manner. “You’re just too shy to admit that you care~”

Squalo snorted and nudged him back, but not enough to dislodge his arm. He didn’t even bother anymore, since it would find it’s way right back there. “I am not fucking shy. I saved you because I didn’t want to hear you whining about being hurt.” Which was a lie, because Dino never whined about that.

“Of course.” Dino conceded with a light chuckle, although it was clear he was only saying it to make Squalo happy. “Ah, we’ve arrived.” The blond man announced once they had stopped just in front of the cafeteria.

“Sure you don’t want anything, Squalo?”

Squalo stared at Dino. “I had to eat shitty hospital food for weeks when I was injured. I’m not doing it willingly.”

A shrug. “Well, it’s your choice. You know, you could always ask someone to bring you proper food even while you were injured.” he said in thoughtful manner even as he took on the line. “You didn’t want to bother anyone with simple request like that, eh? How very kind.” Yep, Dino enjoyed teasing Squalo very much.

“I was in too much fucking pain to actually ask for anything like that,” he shot at Dino as he stood next to him. “I wasn’t exactly thinking about the quality of the food then.”

“Yet you’re complaining about it now.” Dino sighed. He took some bento, not actually knowing what it contained but didn’t really care anyway, and waited for his turn to pay. “Everything’s alright in Varia?” He asked conversationally.

Squalo blinked at the question and then shrugged. “It’s the same as it always is, I guess. I’m overworked and unappreciated, but I get to do what I want on jobs, so I can’t complain overall.”

Dino chuckled. “I’ve always known that you’re the one who actually manages that family.” He paid the accurate amount of money to the cashier and took the plastic bag. “So, to the garden now?”

“Yeah, sure.” Squalo began to walk in what he hoped was the direction of the garden. “And of course I run the Varia. Like Boss would actually get off his lazy ass and do shit.”

Dino laughed. “I’m sure Xanxus would actually something useful if Vongola was attacked. He even agreed to help me investigating this case.”

Squalo snorted. “Like he’s actually doing anything. He wouldn’t even tell me what the fuck is going on.” He hummed thoughtfully. “But yeah, if someone actually tried to usurp the Vongola before he did, that would piss him off something fierce. That’s about the only time he might lift a finger. Maybe.”

“If I don’t know better, I’d say you hate him.” Dino commented lightly even as they stepped out of the hospital building and into the garden.

“I do hate the bastard.” Squalo walked toward a bench, expecting Dino to follow him. “He’s a fucking asshole. But I don’t have to like him to be loyal to him.”

Of course Dino followed Squalo. The blond man sat down on the bench and took out his bento before responding to Squalo’s statement. “Why are you loyal to him, then? Only because of his power?”

Squalo sat down next to Dino, leaning back to rest against the back of the bench. “I have my reasons, Cavallone. I tried to explain them to you once, but you didn’t get it.”

Opening the bento, Dino took his chopsticks and prayed silently before starting to eat. He swallowed his food before commenting, “Nope. I won’t understand how you can be so loyal to someone you hate. I guess that’s because you think Xanxus is... charismatic, huh?”

Squalo just shrugged. “I guess. It’s not really that though. It’s his rage that keeps me by his side.”

Dino almost choked on his food. “...Do you know how utterly masochist you sound like when you said that, Squalo?”

“I didn’t mean it like that dumbass!” Squalo punched him in the arm, but there was no strength to it. “I don’t want it directed at me.”

Dino chuckled. “So, because you don’t want him to be angry at you, you’ll keep loyal to him?” he asked, eating his bento again. “...That sounds weird.”

“That’s not why. You don’t understand his rage like I do. It’s not...” He made a frustrated sound. “No matter how I explain it, you’re just not going to get it. So why don’t we leave it that I’m loyal to him?”

“I guess you’re right. I will never understand.” Dino sighed, putting his chopsticks down for a moment. “Eh, anyway, I’m glad you come here, Squalo. Did Xanxus ask you to?” he smiled.

Squalo shook his head. “No. He told me to ask you about what happened, but I came on my own.”

There was a big smile on Dino’s face as he heard Squalo’s answer. “I know you care about me, Squalo~” he chuckled before eating his bento again.

“So... you still want to know what happened?” he asked afterwards.

“Yeah, if you think you can tell it,” Squalo replied. He ignored his statement about caring, because Dino would always say that. Even if it wasn’t true.

“Hmm,” Dino leaned back on the bench. “I’ve told you about what happened, though, in your journal’s comment. Is there anything else you need to know?”

“Well, first off, how the fuck did the little shit not sense what was happening? From what I remember of him, he was one of the best fighters around. Next to me, of course.”

Dino wisely didn’t comment anything about Kyouya being the best fighter next to Squalo. Both of them would certainly be angry with his comment, anyway. “Well, Kyouya had just finished his spar with Miss Adel and I-- probably contributed for his lack of focus too since he was going to answer my call at the moment.” he put down his chop sticks and played with them.

“He also used his mist flame while sparring with Miss Adel, I guess that was also one factor why Kyouya didn’t notice the attack beforehand. He was lowering his guard, like he said.”

“So you still think that it was a mist user?” Squalo glanced over at Dino. “And what about the other attacks that have been happening?”

“Well, I’m not so sure. It’s probably just a habit of hanging around Kyouya too often, but, for now, my biggest suspicion still lays on illusionists.” Dino sighed. “Well, we’ve known that Miss Adel’s attacker was not a Mist user--at least that’s what Fran and Mammon had confirmed. I don’t know anything about Genkishi’s attack.”

“Adel? Is she one of those Shimon kids?” Squalo had yet to meet any of them, so he wasn’t sure who Dino was speaking of. “Do you think that the same person attacked both of them?” Squalo didn’t even bother to add in the creepy Genshiki, since he had no interest in him.

Dino nodded. “Yes. She is one of their best fighter.” He confirmed. “To be honest? No.” he shrugged. “I mean, the probability is there, yes, especially since both Miss Adel and Kyouya are the best fighters in their Families, but for one person to launch an attack like this in such a short amount of time... It’s just too risky.”

“Are you sure about that? They may only have a short amount of time to attack,” Squalo pointed out. “Besides, what better time to do it than do it quickly? If it was the same person, they probably thought of all the possibilities beforehand and accommodated for them. Or maybe they were fixing their mistake. Maybe they intended to, originally, take out both of them at once.”

“That might also be a possibility.” Dino conceded. “If their intention is taking out both of them, though, I don’t see why they’d still attack Kyouya once I appeared in the room. It only made everything riskier for them, right?”

“Unless they wanted you to see.” Squalo sighed, tipping his head back. “You’ve made a lot of enemies over the years, Bucking Horse, and even more when you pulled that stunt at the party.” Oh, he had heard of it, mostly from the indignant women who had lost the chance at the infamous Don Cavallone. “You’ve made it known that your greatest weakness is that brat that’s sleeping right now. And maybe they attacked that girl to throw you off the scent.”

Way to make Dino felt guilty, Squalo. The blond man was silent for a moment, his fingers stopped playing with his chopsticks and he bowed his head to hide his eyes with his soft blond bangs.

“That-- is also a possibility.” One that Dino hoped wasn’t true.

Squalo glanced over at Dino and rolled his eyes. He should have just kept his big mouth shut. Now he had to deal with an emotional Cavallone. “Voooi, stop being such a pussy. You’re not going to let them get away with it, are you?”

Dino shook his head. “No. I won’t let them get away from this.” His voice was strong and full with determination. “I’ve promised Kyouya. I won’t let anyone who had hurt him get away freely. I will destroy them and their family, leaving no child or woman alive.”

Squalo couldn’t quite stop the slight smirk he gave. “Good. It’s about time you grew a set of balls, Cavallone. Let’s just hope you haven’t bitten off more than you can chew.”

Those words extracted a laugh from Dino. “I already have a set of balls, Squalo.” He grinned at his friend before he continued in a lot more serious tone. “Even if I’ve done that, I still won’t stop until I’ve fulfilled my promise. You should’ve known that.” Dino always took the promises he made so very seriously.

Squalo sighed a little. After a moment, he reached over to rest his hand on the back of Dino’s head, gloved fingers threading through the hair there. It was one of the few signs of affection he would allow himself with the blond now. “Yeah, I know. You’re a sentimental idiot.” Though Squalo couldn’t really talk, since he had yet to break a vow either.

Dino closed his eyes when he felt Squalo’s fingers on his hair, a smile appeared on his face. After a moment, he straightened up and threw a grin towards the long haired man. “I know you care, Squalo. Just be careful, else other people would start thinking you’re actually a caring man too.” he said half teasingly.

“Tch.” He cuffed Dino lightly on the back of his head before relaxing again. “Like anyone would ever get that idea in their head. You’re the only dumbass that still thinks that.”

“Auch!” Once again Dino rubbed his abused head. “You know, Squalo, you really should stop hitting people’s head just because you’re shy.” He grumbled lowly, knowing very well that it would only make Squalo angry, actually.

Squalo glared at Dino. “Do you want me to really hit you or something?”

“No, thank you. I’m not that masochist.” Dino responded promptly, throwing a grin at Squalo. “I’m kidding. I know you’re a heartless, rude and tough swordsman, Squalo!”

Squalo snorted. “Damn right I am. Stop forgetting it.” Squalo was quiet for a minute as he stretched his arms over the back of the bench. “So, what now? What are you going to do now?”

Dino stood up only to throw his empty bento box to the trash can before sitting back on Squalo’s side and answering the man. “For now? I’ll watch over Kyouya, of course. He is not the type who will stay still on the bed if no one’s watching over him, after all.”

“Don’t you need to find who did this though?” Squalo didn’t understand how Dino could sit back and do nothing right now.

“I do and I’m doing my investigation at the moment. Kyouya’s safety is more important than anything, though,” even more important than finding the culprit immediately. “There’s a high probability whoever did this would return to Kyouya to finish their job, so it won’t do for me to leave him alone for now.”

“For now, I’m ordering my men to look into the matter and informed me about all of their findings.”

“Even injured like he is, he probably could defend himself better than most people,” Squalo pointed out to the don. And then he sighed. He really should know better. After all, Dino had stuck by his side while he was laid up, he shouldn’t expect any less for his fiancee. “But I know you’re just going to stay there. So, is there anything you want me to do?”

Dino offered a small smile for Squalo. Yes, apparently his friend did know him quite well. Hearing the long haired man’s question, Dino almost tempted to answer with something really silly like, ‘I want you to dance Samba.’ Don’t ask where that answer came from, because Dino wasn’t really sure himself.

Because he still wanted to live, though, Dino answered with, “I’ll be very happy if you are taking care of yourself and avoid being injured badly anytime soon, Squalo.”

Squalo snorted. “Unless you see a shark around here, I doubt that’s going to happen. If this asshole is going after strong fighters, I want him to come at me. I’ll kick his fucking ass.” Just for putting that look I saw earlier on your face, he thought. He never would say it out loud though.

Dino laughed. “You sound so sure that only shark could kill you! Wasn’t it a little bit ironic, considering people often called you as a shark?” he grinned towards his oldest friend. It felt nice talking like this with Squalo. They had not had this kind of conversation for way too long.

“There isn’t a man alive that can kill me, Bucking Horse, save for Boss. And I’m still useful to him.” Squalo shrugged a little. “I don’t think it’s ironic at all. Sharks are fierce creatures who fight each other for food. It was bound to happen eventually.”

“Xanxus won’t kill you.” Dino commented quite surely. He then fell silent for a moment before chuckling wryly. “I guess I have to feel glad because you’re the only ‘Shark’ in our world. Besides, you’re not planning to test your strength against a real shark anytime soon, right?” the blond man gazed at his friend, his eyebrow raised.

Squalo snorted. “Not anytime fucking soon. I’d rather not get eaten by a shark again. It wasn’t exactly the most pleasant experience.” While he admired the strength of the fish, feeling those teeth sink in had been...painful, to say the least.

“I’d assume.” The blond man chuckled. “Glad to hear you still have some common sense, Squalo.” He was mostly teasing right now.

“I have a lot of common sense. At least I don’t trip over air when my men aren’t watching over my shoulder.” He looked at him. “I guess getting laid regularly still hasn’t cured you of that little ailment.” If Dino wanted to play it that way, then Squalo could bite back.

“Hey! I’ve told you so many times that I’m not that clumsy anymore!” Dino pouted. “My clumsiness and how often I’m getting laid certainly are not related in any way!” he argued quite seriously.

Squalo snorted. “Obviously not if you’re still a klutz. Which I know you are since you were tripping over your feet on the way over here.”

“I wasn’t! ...Was I?” He didn’t remember tripping, but was he really tripped on the way?

“You stumbled. Better than you used to be, but if your men weren’t in the vicinity, you would have fallen on your face.” Squalo smirked a little bit. “At least there weren’t any stairs.”

“I’m glad you can be happy because of my clumsiness, Squalo.” Dino was very sarcastic when he said that.

“Isn’t it just great?” he answered back, ignoring the sarcasm. “And it amuses me more than makes me happy.”

Dino rolled his eyes. “You really should search for another source of amusement. My clumsiness has been one ever since we were still at school, after all.” He folded his arms on his chest, looking quite offended.

“It wouldn’t be a source of amusement if you weren’t still a complete klutz.” Then Squalo shrugged a bit. “I don’t know why you’re bothered by it. It’s just one of your quirks. It’s not like I care either way whether you’re clumsy or not.”

Dino’s eyebrow rose when he heard that. “Really? From your comment, I’d think you’d be very happy once I’m no longer clumsy--which I don’t even know possible or not.”

Squalo rolled his eyes. “Have I ever fucking said that? If it bugged me that much, I would have said so, not teased the shit out of you. I just do it because it’s the easiest thing to pick on. Besides, I know better. You’re always going to be a klutz, it’d be weird if you weren’t.”

“...You know, Squalo, I think your mouth should be censored sometimes. Then again, I know perhaps you’re learning those foul words from Xanxus.” Dino commented with a chuckle.

“...When the hell have I ever censored myself? If you remember correctly, I swore just as much when I was a kid.” He relaxed a little more though. “I’ve got to say though, Boss is pretty damn inventive sometimes. When he’s not just calling me trash, that is.”

“Oh, well, I guess you won’t be you if you’re not swearing, though.” The blond man said after a moment of pause, giving his old friend a grin.

He snorted, reaching over to poke his cheek. “Then why the hell are you bitching about it?”

The grin widened until Dino was laughing lightly. “Because I only want to ‘bitch’ about it.” He answered cheekily.

Squalo glanced over at Dino, smiling a bit. Well, at least he was in a better mood. “I thought that was my job.”

“Oh, rest assure I won’t take that job from you. I’m not particularly like bitching about something too.” Still chuckling, the blond haired man leaned back on the park’s bench, content for a moment.

“Yeah, yeah.” He was quiet for a moment, content with the silence. “So...this is really happening, huh. You and the kid, I mean.”

Dino was silent for a moment after he heard Squalo’s question, only gazing at the blue sky which seemed so clear and only filled with white clouds at the moment. Slowly, a soft smile appeared on his face and his eyes, too, turned even warmer than usual as he looked at something only he could see.

“Yes. No matter how impossible it seems, but it really does happening, Squalo,” he laughed because there was a relief he felt when he said that. “and I can’t get any happier than this.”

Squalo looked over at him, watching him for a moment. “Yeah, I can see that. I guess it’s better than you being with one of those ditzy boss’ daughters.”

Once again, Dino’s laughter could be heard. Squalo’s comments really were very amusing. “Hey, those ladies aren’t so bad, you know! Besides, don’t say something like that, Squalo. It could be you who end up with one of them in the future.” Dino’s grin certainly said that he was only teasing the long haired man.

Squalo stared at Dino for a minute, horrified. “Hell fucking no. I will cut out my own tongue and feed it to myself before I marry one of those idiots. I am more than happy to keep fucking around and stay unattached.”

“Hey, some of those ladies are very attractive! Not that I care, now, since I don’t think anyone can beat Kyouya’s sexiness.” A naughty grin appeared on Dino’s face. “Perhaps you can try and bring one of them to your bed, hm?”

“I have. Several of them, in fact. And they’re all fucking horrible. It’s one position, flat on the back, and they expect it to be sweet and loving.” He snorted again. “Like I would ever fucking do that.”

“Oh, yes. You hate traditional position like that and you don’t have any gentleness in your body one bit.” Dino shook his head in wry amusement. “They are women, though. Of course they would want a gentle lover.”

“Hey, I don’t mind missionary position. But not when it’s all the fucking time. I bet you and the kid have variety in your sex life. It gets boring when it’s the same damn thing over and over again.”

“Maybe if you suggest that variety in some gentle tone, they’d consider it.” Dino pointed out. “Not all people can understand what you want if you only growl like an angry lion whenever they don’t get it immediately, Squalo.”

“Who says I’m like that all the time? I know better, Cavallone and I only growl after the fourth or fifth time. They’re just too lazy and too damn expectant all the time.”

Dino laughed. “I take it you like it better when your partner is a male, then?”

Squalo gave a shrug. “I don’t care what sex the person is really. All I care about is if the sex is enjoyable.”

“I’d think that sex is always enjoyable,” Dino shrugged. “At least they are always pleasant enough for me.”

“Just because you get off, it doesn’t mean it’s enjoyable. I like to have fun. Sticking it in and getting off doesn’t equal a good time to me.”

“Squalo!” Dino gasped, affronted by the way Squalo was phrasing his words. “Don’t say it so vulgarly like that! Besides, it’s enjoyable for me! All of my partners have been really good and satisfying!”

Squalo just rolled his eyes, ignorning the comment about the vulgarity. “So there isn’t one time that you can think of that you had bad sex?”

Dino thought about the question. “...Nope. I think no. Some of them are average, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad sex.”

“Then you’re fucking weird. Everyone’s had bad sex at least once.” Squalo crossed his arms. “You’ve always enjoyed it, no matter what?”

“Everyone?” Dino raised his eyebrow. “You sound so sure.”

“Because I am. Everyone’s got an awkward sex story.”

“What’s yours, then?”

“Mine?” Squalo was quiet for a minute, thinking. “There was this chick when I was fourteen. We were messing around when she said she wanted to try something. I said sure and she started taking off my pants. Well, she wanted to go down on me, but she ended up using too much teeth. It fucking hurt instead of being sexy.” Not the most awkward story by far, but it had been the first to come to mind.

Dino didn’t know whether he should laugh or mortified when he heard Squalo’s answer, but he chose to say something that was the first crossing his mind, “You’ve been messing around since fourteen?! That’s young!”

Squalo shrugged. “I was a teenage boy and the girls liked me for some strange reason. Who wouldn’t mess around?”

“I wasn’t messing around when I was that young,” Dino pointed out. “No wonder you were so experienced with those kind of things back at school.”

Squalo glanced over at him. “You weren’t much older when you started messing around, or have you forgotten?” It was rare for him to bring that up, but it felt appropriate.

A faint red hue appeared on Dino’s face. “Not much older, no, but still older than you.” He shot back stubbornly.

There was a snort and Squalo rolled his eyes. “What? A year, maybe? Besides, what’s the big fucking deal about my age? Lots of people fuck around at that age.”

“That’s true enough,” Dino finally admitted with a chuckle. “It felt like such a long time since we spent our time together in school.” He hummed thoughtfully.

“You ever regret it? Any of it?” Squalo asked. It was a little odd, reminiscing like this. He couldn’t remember a time that they really had.

Dino didn’t even need time to think about the answer. He was already shaking his head. “No. Why would I regret any of it?” he asked back.

Squalo shrugged. “I don’t know. Guess I always wondered though.” Squalo tipped his head back to look at the sky. “We were pretty stupid kids, weren’t we?”

“So you think I’m not a stupid man, now? Wow. I’m really glad knowing that.” Dino commented with a laugh.

Squalo snorted. “I never said that. But maybe you aren’t as dumb as you were when you were a kid.” He glanced at Dino out of the corner of his eye. “You’re still too soft though.”

A soft smile appeared on Dino’s face as he heard that. “I don’t mind that at all, Squalo. In fact, I don’t know whether I’ll still be me or not once I’m ‘not too soft’ as you said. I don’t want to be drowned too deep in our world I lost my own self.” He answered solemnly.

“Yeah, I guess.” He thought about it for a moment. “Are you saying I’ve been drawn in too deep? That I’ve lost my own sense of self?”

“You? I don’t think that’d be possible.” Dino answered with a light chuckle. “You’re a rude, violent and sadistic bastard at the core, Squalo, so I’m sure you will never lost your own sense of self.”

Squalo stared at Dino for a moment before laughing, loud and long. “Damn right I am.” He sounded proud about this. “You just keep on remembering that.”

He calmed down after a moment before sighing. “Guess you need to get back to your boy toy, don’t you?”

It was always nice to hear Squalo’s laughing. Once, long time ago, Dino had aimed to make his friend laugh just like that and now, even if his obsession to make Squalo laughed had decreased a lot, it was still nice hearing the long haired man laughing freely.

“Yes. Even if he doesn’t like it, but I’m... worry if I left him for too long,” he admitted with a sheepish smile because even he knew how ridiculous his statement was.

Squalo nodded. “Alright, I’ll let you get back to him. I need to get back to Boss anyway. The guy is fucking useless without me around.” He stood, brushing some imaginary dust from his clothes. “You know, you never change.”

Dino tilted his head to look at Squalo. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” he said with a smile. “Besides, you never change either, Squalo.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Can’t say that I want to either. I’m happy the way that I am.” This time he stretched, sighing. “I just meant...you always seem to be nursing someone back to health.”

“Unfortunately, I’m always nursing someone stubborn who doesn’t actually need my help.” Dino grinned at Squalo as he said that before standing from the park bench too.

“More than once in some cases.” He gave Dino a small push. “Good thing that you’re just as stubborn as those idiots, right?”

“Well, actually I’m just doing it because I know no one else will be brave enough to do it.” Dino returned the push. “Not that I have anything to complain about it, though.”

Squalo laughed. “Good to know.” This time, he pushed him toward the hospital. “Now get your ass in there and get back to the kid. Try not to molest him too much while he’s stuck in bed with no where to escape to.”

“Squalo! I can hold myself back! The most thing I’ve done with Kyouya since the attack was only kissing!” Dino shot with an affronted look before it softened. “Thanks for coming, you crazy shark. I was honest when I said it’s nice to see you.” He hit Squalo’s shoulder softly. “Don’t be a stranger now, okay?” with that, Dino finally walked back toward the hospital.

Squalo sighed as he walked off. Really, sometimes the Bucking Horse was more trouble than he was worth. But, then again, Squalo wouldn’t have it any other way.