Missions with the Varia were what Gokudera hated, and missions where he had to fly back to Italy in order to group with them were what he resented – and when he was paired specifically with his Varia counterpart and expected to get along with the smug bastard instead of killing him…

Well, Gokudera wasn't sure anything could top that on his list of things he loathed.

"Oi, knife bastard." Gokudera scowled as his unwanted companion shot him an innocent look that just didn't fit with the picture; how could anyone be innocent whilst standing over a dead body they had just been prodding with a knife? "That's the last of them. Let's go."

"Shishi~" Standing up, the blond slid his knife back into his pocket before cocking his head to the side. "Hayato-kun is forgetting that we're meant to be meeting up with the others before we leave~"

"Tch…" Gokudera hated how Belphegor was always on the ball, nothing escaping his genius mind, no matter how often he pretended to forget things in order to laze about in his room for a while longer. "Whatever…"

Falling into stride with his official arch nemesis, Gokudera grudgingly allowed the other to lead; as much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't sure where the last two members of their small team had agreed to meet upon finishing their duties, and there was no way he was giving Bel the satisfaction of hearing this out loud; giving in like this was enough of a blow to his pride.

Feeling his face pale when Bel raised a bloodstained hand to his lips to lick at the sticky red fluid, Gokudera was sure he was about to throw up. "You're a real creep, you know that?"

Bel hummed in response, his smile stretching to a size that emphasised his clear instability. "I am a prince; not a creep."

"Same thing…" Gokudera crossed his arms against his chest in a stubborn manner, a grumpy aura about him; he would certainly be glad to get back to Japan and report to Tsuna, wanting to leave Italy and everyone in it behind. "Where are they, anyway?"

"The Lightning pervert said to meet by the staircase." Looking up at his silver-haired companion, Bel cocked his head to the side. "Your Lightning Guardian is rather annoying, more so than my froggy. I want to kill him but Xanxus said no."

"Lay a finger on the cow and you'll fucking regret it, bastard," Gokudera hissed, descending the staircase he assumed was their meeting spot; it had been the only one they had climbed in order to clear out the top of the building, so he must be right.

A knowing smirk crossed the blond's face at these words, licking at his lips. "Speaking of peasants, he's still quite the cry-baby, isn't he?"

"What do you – shit." Gokudera glanced down across the railing as the unmistakable cries of the Vongola Lightning filled the air. He briefly cursed the blond and his superior hearing when the Bovino came running towards them in a hasty manner, most likely uninjured and simply being his cowardly self. "Oi! You stupid cow!"

Lambo changed course as he noticed the older two, but before he could approach them, he tripped on the bottom of the staircase and hit his face on the rails. In his distress, he got back to his feet, pulling his Ten Year Bazooka out from wherever he had hidden it. He swung it around, hitting it against the small confines of the area, and it was quick to leave his hands as he tripped once again on the staircase.

Gokudera watched as the Bazooka headed straight towards his blond companion, the other's usual smile replaced instead by an unreadable expression as Bel continued to stand there with his hands in his pocket, making no attempt at moving out of the way – but then again, the silver-haired male reminded himself, it would have been pointless to move as the Bazooka had been upgraded a few years ago with tracking capabilities, locking on to the closest source of body heat; Bel probably wouldn't have had a chance anyway.

In a puff of smoke, Gokudera couldn't help but admit he was a tad curious as to what the Belphegor of the future would be like, but when a much smaller form became clear through the haze, he couldn't help but frown; was that stupid Bazooka malfunctioning once again?

"Shishi~ Are you the Vongola's bomb brat? You look a lot older."

When sixteen-year-old Belphegor stood in front of Gokudera with that same shit-eating grin that the blond was rarely seen without, the Vongola Guardian found himself wishing he could throw a handful of bombs at Lambo for what he had caused; as irritating, egotistical, spoilt and violent as Belphegor was, his adult self was somewhat tolerable compared to his volatile, seemingly-bi-polar, bratty teenage self.

"Hey, bomb brat?" Bel stepped closer, cocking his head to the side as the cogs in his head turned within seconds of this new development. "Where am I? The Bovino Bazooka hit me, right? But I've never seen this place before. This isn't Italy, is it?"

"No." Gokudera couldn't help but snarl at the now-younger male, his temper breaking already as memories of his teenage years with the blond resurfaced, making him hate the other more than ever; he had thought he was finally free of the insufferable male and his self-entitled attitude, but now he was stuck with the person he loathed the most, at the same age his resentment was strongest.

Life really fucking hated him, didn't it?

"Then where are we?" Sneering down at the Bovino still sniffling away, Bel stepped past Lambo in order to approach the closest window.

"Sweden." Gokudera moved to follow the teenager, putting his hand on the younger's shoulder in order to spin him around and face him. "Listen, you little – what the fuck?!"

The silver-haired man yelped as he pulled his hand back to his own person, his green eyes wide as they took in the sight of blood dribbling down his flesh from the set of teeth marks that had just been left in his skin.

"Did you just bite me?!" Gokudera was ready to snap that scrawny little neck, but the set of knives that were being held out in a threatening manner deterred him; he knew his Varia counterpart would find sheer joy in using them on him.

"Peasants shouldn't touch royalty." A firm frown was on Bel's face now, agitation wafting from him. He growled when Gokudera reached out to him again with the intention of hitting him, dropping his knives as he lunged forward and buried his teeth into the calloused flesh once more.

Yup. It was official. If Gokudera had to deal with this brat of a teenager again, life definitely fucking despised him.