{???, Japan}

Koro stood baffled, hidden behind one of the trees, he motionlessly stared as the Simon family effortlessly took the Ninth's men out. He knew the group wasn't as defenseless as they seemed, but for them to be so strong and ruthless, he really needed to revise his standards.

Keeping his breathing as quiet as possible, Koro stood in the shadow, calculating his next moves. Well, the men who went after the Simon had passed their prime, if he took it this way it wasn't as impressive anymore. 

What's more, judging from the turn things had taken, the Simon Famiglia had most probably been stated as an enemy of the Vongola, a war following the statement wouldn't be surprising. Therefore, logically thinking, if he attacked them, he wouldn't be breaching any peace treaty.

Taking a deep breath, he was about to attack the Simon or at least intercept them when his purple eyes met the glasses wearing male's own. He paused, an unfamiliar chill running down his spine. This man wasn't to take lightly. He was dangerous, more so than Enma if he believed his instinct. 

Yucca frowned, his staring contest with the male not being interrupted by either of them. The white's scowl deepened as he saw the younger boy smirk. Not Mukuro, even the mist wasn't as annoying as the goatee bearing male. This realization made the eerily familiar feeling all the more unnerving, was he the same as them? Did he too cheat death at least once?

The fedora-wearing male was about to say something when his busty friend, Adelheid called out to him. "Come, Julie, we are moving."

The raven head, now dubbed as Julie, laughed before nodding. He sent the girl a flirty remark, sparring Yucca one last glance.

The last thing the cloud saw before fainting was the raven's lips moving.

"Sleep well, Yucca," Julie's lips morphed into a smile. "Send Mukuro my best regards."

::

{Inheritance ceremony hall, Japan}

Purple eyes blinked open, the natural light coming through the windows blinding them. Bringing a hand to rub his forehead, Koro slowly sat up.

"What happened," he muttered, his eyes scanning the room he was in.

"Ah, I see you are awake Yucca," came Mammon's calm voice. Koro's purple eyes darted to the small mist who sat on one of the room's chair, some sweets and drinks on the table.

The guardian nodded mutely. His violet eyes, staring at Mammon questioningly. "How did I come here?" he mumbled.

Mammon hummed, taking a sip of their drink. "You were with the Ninth's men, they brought you back," they paused. "The fact that you were on the ground, snoring peacefully, felt a bit anticlimactic," Mammon turned to look at him. "I can't wait for the Boss to shot you for dishonoring the Varia," they chuckled.

Koro smiled wryly, an embarrassed laugh escaping his lips. "I guess so, what did they say about the Simon family?"

Mammon hummed, standing up they made their way to the door. "It's war, but Sawada Tsunayoshi wants to settle it on his own, he went yesterday. So we can only wait."

"I see, what did Squalo say?"

Mammon scoffed, "'Voi,' of course," they turned to look at Yucca. "Also, you owe me, I had to wait for you to wake up. The others already went back to Italy."

Koro hummed. "Thanks, Mammon-chan. How much will it be for your company?" He asked childishly.

"Five hundred thousand dollars per hour, do the math," they paused. "Also don't phrase it this way, it makes me seem like a prostitute."

"Fufu, Right, my bad."

::

The next day.

{Varia headquarter, Italy}

"So you are telling me that, you, one of my guardians fainted after his eyes met with some unknown teen?" Xanxus demanded, his tone unbearably low as a dark chuckle escaped his lips.

"Not an ordinary teen, Boss," Yucca tried to argue, only to have a bullet fly his way.

"You were saying?" Xanxus asked with a growl, his fuming gun resting by his side. "I didn't quite catch that, trash."

Koro gulped. "The kid was similar to a mist, he went inside my head or something," the white head tried to counter. Lifting his hand to interrupt his Boss from stopping him. "He knew Rokudo Mukuro, the two are linked!"

Xaxus paused, refraining himself from bursting he settled on his armchair. "The mist trash?" He muttered pensively.

"Yeah, well he spoke about him," Koro mumbled. "Something about greeting him in his stead."

Xanxus hummed. "Where's your report, trash?" Although he wanted to beat his subordinate to the pulp, Varia business came first. It oh so happened someone on the same threat level as Mukuro was Varia business.

Koro gave his Boss a bashful grin. "On its way Boss, on its way."

"Then get to it you scum!"

Koro sprang to his feet, hurriedly bidding his farewells, he escaped the room. Better do this report quickly.

::

Laying on his bed, Yucca thought back on Julie's last words. He was a hundred percent sure the man wasn't one of Mukuro's puppet or vessel, but the two of them were linked. The eery feeling he gave off only further confirmed Koro's suspicion. The proximity to death the three of them shared couldn't be denied anymore.

Whatever he should first look into those Simon family guys. He knew practically nothing of them, even if Tsunayoshi somehow solved everything, knowing more about potential targets always was useful.

Maybe, tonight he would see Mukuro. Although now that he thought about it, in this timeline the two had never met. He should try and enter the illusionist's mindscape, then the two could officially meet.

He closed his eyes

::

{???, ???}

Heterochromatic eyes fluttered open as the man laying on what seemed to a clinic bed slowly sat up. Not uttering a single word, he let his blue and red eyes roam the place he was in. This definitely wasn't Vendicare. It wasn't his mindscape either, nor was it Chrome's or Sawada Tsunayoshi's. He smirked, an amused chuckle escaping his lips.

Was it time for them to meet already? He didn't think it would be so soon. Although, meeting one like him was something he always thought would be interesting.

He stood up, taking in his convict's attire before giving a slight wave of his hand. Dark indigo washed over him, morphing his previously white and plain suit into something more... comfortable.

Enjoying the feeling, although fake, of the soft fabric against his skin, Mukuro hummed, sending precise and cadenced waves of mist flames to scan his surrounding. He was like a moving radar, with his eyes close he followed the perturbation, he guessed would lead him, to them.

As the illusionist got further and further away from his previous spot, he could see the mindscape morph into a more city-like landscape. Not taking any note of it, he soon found himself standing in front of a hill, on his right was school building he didn't remember sighting before, on his left the road. His heterochromatic eyes flickered to the school's nameplate. Kunugigaoka Junior High. He hummed, maybe he should look into this school, once he got out of the Vendicare.

He was about to enter the school ground when he felt his flames picking up their energy, his head turned in its general direction, a small pout coming to his face as yet another chuckle escaped his lips. Are they kidding him? Up the hill, seriously? Couldn't they meet up in a cafe or a bland mindscape?

He sighed, whatever, it probably was part of their nature to piss people off he tried to explain, preventing his frown from deepening. He knew deep down why the place was so up, at least he knew that to have such realistic mindscape, the devotion, and attachment were far beyond anything he had experienced before. Part of him felt jealous of them, for having at one point in their life a place to call home.

He mentally shook his head, his look hardening for a split second. There was no use in dwelling over something he couldn't have. In the underworld, a place ruled by the mafia, those people he hated, only the strong survived. If he wanted to one day find his place... slaughtering them was his only way. He paused. Whatever, since the day he went out of the Estreano's laboratory, he knew he was destined to this life. Never would he change its course if he was offered to, this was the path he carved for himself. His route to survival and success.

Stepping on the vast vacant land, Mukuro felt the wind ruffle his dark blue locks. So many details for one manifestation, without trying to, he could feel his love for this place spilling all over the place. Eyes closed, he could almost hear the sounds of teenagers, probably a tad younger than himself, laughing, running, chatting, scheming, shooting... He paused, his eyes snapping open as they flickered toward the place he swore the shots were coming from.

For a split second, he saw two silhouettes. A boy whose black bangs covered half of his face and a girl with orange colored hair and green eyes. Both teens held firearms and shot before disappearing. Were they training? But with guns, how unusual. Maybe he used to be a military student or teacher he mused before shrugging it off.

As his eyes slowly turned to the shack looking building, Mukuro's heterochromatic eyes landed on a standing black haired male. The man, who seemed older than him stood with a fond expression as he overlooked something Mukuro couldn't grasp. His orbs flickered the way the male was looking, and it seemed like a bunch of armed students were trying to hit a giant pinata, a yellow pinata which had tentacles and... what the hell was that thing?

His eyes going back to the raven head's, he caught from the corner of his eyes sight or a white head snoring peacefully, his head resting on the wooden table next to the older looking man. These people must be Yucca and Koro, he deduced, picking up some of his memory shards.

"Kufufu, were you the ones to call for me?" He asked, his signature laugh escaping his lips as he caught the men's attention.

The younger one, whose irises were purple, blinked owlishly at him. A tilt of his head accompanying the gesture as his mouth gaped open before closing and reenacting the same action a few times in mild disbelief. The older one, with black eyes, only flickered his line of vision his way, he didn't seem surprised with the illusionist's presence within their mindscape and quietly smiled at the sight of the younger male.

"Mukuro, I didn't think we would meet so... soon," he muttered, now fully facing the illusionist. Mukuro chuckled, judging from his manner, his way of speaking and the memory fragments from the future, this one should be Koro.

"Fufu, did you now, Koro-kun? And here I thought you were the ones who sought me out," he replied, tone whiny as he brought a hand to his chest in fake hurt.

He heard a scoff. "As if I would ever look for you," a less mature voice said. "If not for Koro-chan, I would have left you to rot in your petty cell," the white head, Mukuro deduced was Yucca, huffed before turning away, a scowl on his face.

"Yucca," Koro sent the younger male a mean look, making the other slightly shrink before defying him with his eyes. "We already talked about it, it wasn't really him..."

"And? Your point, is? Clearly, he has a connection to this Katou Julie asshole or whoever he really is, yeah?" The white head retorted, anger and dissatisfaction dripping from his voice.

Koro sighed, rubbing his temples in a circular motion before facing the illusionist. "Do you have some time to spare, Mukuro?"

"Kufufu, I suppose I don't have anything better to do for now," he mused before pausing his eyes narrowing. "Something tells me you will be able to enlighten me on my dear Chrome's state too."

Taking a seat, Koro hummed.

There was this strange sense of proximity between the ex-God of Death and illusionist. It felt like they could trust each other without a doubt. Like the one would watch the other's back without a second thought. Maybe because the two had gone through death at least once they had a strange psychic connection. Koro wasn't sure, but he knew he and Mukuro would meet again in the mindscape. That this was the start of a relationship they were sure to never forget.

::

{???, ???}

Leaning against the crowded street's sturdy wall, Koro calmly exhaled, a cloud of white forming before him before it vanished in thin air. His right hand resided in his trench's outer pocket as it gently fiddled with a pair of silver coins. The two medals felt a bit chilly against his gloves' soft leather fabric as a gentle tinkling sound echoed from time to time within his pockets before being muffled by the said fabric. It left only a light thud to emanate from his pocket.

In his left hand was his phone, a blueish light shining on his mildly serious face as he went through his note one last time. It was his mission requests, all of them listed by order of importance the reward being the second criteria. After the whole Simon Familly incident during the inheritance ceremony and his hurried report on Katou Julie, Koro had decided to take a short break from the Varia and Vongola as a whole. Although his last pause wasn't that old, he felt the compelling need to go back to his 'origins.' Or his career as a freelance assassin for a while.

He wanted to regain a bit of the freedom he had forsaken when he joined the elite assassination group and what better way to do so than to chose his clients and missions for himself? Even if as one of the commanding officer of the Varia he had this kind of freedom already, doing it without being labeled as Xanxus' cloud but 'himself' was different. The taste of a well-done job wasn't quite the same.

His phone vibrated once announcing an incoming message before a warning notification erupted on his screen. Calmly opening his messaging app, Yucca went over the text a satisfied smile blooming on his face the more he read before a chuckle slipped past his lips as he finished it. In a swift movement, he typed a reply before checking his wristwatch on his left wrist, making sure the time was the same as his phone's he shut the device.

Tonight was his night he didn't need anything to disturb him. Patting the nonexistent particles off his black shirt Koro's left hand gently brushed through his fluffy locks as he made his way into the crowd. His white head slowly merged with the surrounding, darker, shades until he completely disappeared from any radar.

I have one thing to say: Next chapter one of Assassination Classroom's characters will appear. It might not be who you think it will be.

Thanks for reading, until next time^^