{Namimori, Japan}

Staring at his cellphone, Yucca trailed behind the Varia. The group, after receiving Sawada Tsunayoshi's visit last night decided to give the teen a chance to explain his plan.

To say the guardians were surprised at their Boss' benevolent approach would be an understatement, but then again, his decision remained understandable. Against the Vindice, the number of trumps they had was limited.

Take Metsu, although the feline was a fearful being, the energy needed to summon him and the apparent backlash Yucca suffered from calling him, weren't to be underestimated. At the time the Vindicare guards didn't know of the cat, but now that they did they should have taken countermeasures.

To call the animal again would be a reckless and most probably useless move.

Silently tipping on his phone's tactical keyboard, Koro's purple hues momentarily flickered to the right as he caught one of his subordinate's supposedly hidden figure. He frowned, his eyes meeting the underling's own for a second before he retracted his line of sight to his screen. He would have to look at their training regiment later.

His phone gave a single vibration and a new message popped on his screen. Quickly reading over it, Yucca couldn't help a chuckle from slipping past his lips as he wrote his brother an answer back.

"Shishi, you're having fun, Yu?" Came Bel's voice from behind the white's shoulder. The teen who shamelessly stared at his cloud counterpart's messages sent the older male a questioning look behind his bangs before reading the messaging log.

Yucca only sparred the storm a glance, a wry smile on his face he dismissed the other's reading of his texts, deeming them not important enough to hide. "Sure, and you Bel?" he asked as he received a new message from his brother.

Bel hummed, focused on the conversation as he had nothing better to do, his left hand aimlessly played with one of his many daggers until he tilted his head slightly to the side. The motion halted for a second as he went over the sender's ID. Boss?

"Boss?" The teen asked, his voice holding both curiosity and suspicion. His bangs swayed slightly to the side, revealing a glimpse of his eyes for a second. His usual grin seemed to have faded a little too as he awaited the older's answer.

The word fell, and just like that, most of the Varia's attention went to the cloud and storm guardians. Boss? Who was this Boss he was texting when their Boss was walking before him, no phone in hand? The feeling of possible betrayal which they had buried not so long ago was slowly peaking its head again as they listened into their conversations.

Whether Koro felt the others' increasing attention or not, he didn't show it. Although, it would be hard for someone as trained as him not to when the deadly aura they emitted seemed to thicken the atmosphere until it was almost suffocating.

Yucca beamed his usual smile, his left hand reaching for the blond head beside him, he gently ruffled the teen's locks. "Fufu but of course, Ran-chan is," he answered calmly as the boy swatted his hand away. "Who would it be?" He asked, playing dumb at the increasing distrust the storm was displaying.

"Really..." the blond mumbled as he stared at the white head in front of him, his usual laugh dropping as he gazed at the cloud. The dagger in his left hand suddenly popped out as he analyzed the other's behavior. "Then, what about Boss?"

The purple-eyed male owlishly blinked at the fallen prince, not quite understanding the question until an amused chuckle slipped past his lips. "But of course, Boss is Boss. Who else could it be?"

Bel's grip on his dagger tightened, his fingers twitching as he refrained himself from attacking the white in front of him. It didn't matter whether or not they got along if Yucca's loyalty didn't lie in the Varia, but with this marshmallow freak then he was better off killing the cloud.

"Now, now, Yucca-chan. Elaborate will you?" Came Lussuria's voice as the sun placed a hand on the storm's shoulder. The gesture seemed to calm him a bit and the next instant the sun pushed him the rain's way. Taking the teen's place, Lussuria sent the white head an inquiring grin.

Bel didn't add anything, making his way to the rain he silently exhaled, trying to calm himself as he basked into the silver head's calming aura. He wouldn't admit it, but he felt grateful to the green for stopping him before he stabbed, or at least attacked Yucca.

The inquiry made Koro hum once more as his smile widened. He knew what his teammates were getting at, but he couldn't help but love to rile them up. It wasn't often he could impact them all at once.

"Sure, Luss, whatever you want," he answered, the sly smirk never leaving his lips. The sight made the green raise an eyebrow before he broke into an exasperated grin. Seeing the sun's reaction, Koro could only wink at them before resuming.

"Well, Boss is undoubtedly Boss, as in Xanxus is," he began, earning a nod from the green and a low grunt of approval from the silent Levi in front of him.

He was about to stop, wanting to relish in the others' annoyance a few more minutes or seconds, but Lussuria's face which displayed only the sweetest smile he had ever seen made him change his mind.

His smile seemed to, temporarily stiffen as mentally cleared his throat before going on. "Right, Ran's ID," he started, dropping the -chan under the sun's persistent stare. "It was for security measure when I began. I didn't want other's to target him, so I made him the 'Boss.' Although the context changed it stuck."

From the corner of his eyes, he could see Lussuria's face turning satisfied. The aura he emitted was almost motherly as he gazed at him. As if he was praising a child who apologized for a prank he did to his friends or siblings. Koro felt embarrassment blooming at the look he received. He could only thank the heaven he wasn't Koro-sensei anymore, or his poker face would have turned a beautiful shade of reddish-pink.

Damn, he could almost hear Lussuria cooing at him. Something along the line of "good, good, that's my darling!"

::

As he neared the Sawada household, Yucca's previously pouting face had turned into his usual business smile. Unbothered by the Cavallone men who the curly blond left outside the house, he strode behind his Boss as he entered the house.

He was about to step foot into the entryway when his instinct kicked in. Moving to the side, he was about to grab and throw the object to the ground when a strange feeling of familiarity invaded his senses. Déjà vu?

Only grabbing the thing, which happened to be an arm, that aimed at him, Yucca held the object, which turned out to be his brother, in front of him, his gaze dubious.

"Waaah, Yucca-nii-chan!" Byakuran whined as he faced his brother. "Why do you always evade my hugs?" He added, his free arm trashing for a second before Koro let go of his other arm. His members free, Ran engulfed his brother in a hug.

As he nuzzled his head into the older male's shirt, Ran's purple eyes shut themselves. He silently inhaled his brother's calming scent. "You didn't even come to the hospital to greet me," he mumbled absentmindedly or perhaps was it on purpose.

Nevertheless, it made Yucca tense up. "Hospital?" Grabbing the teen's shoulder, he pushed him off before taking in his whole appearance. "Are you okay? When did it happen? Who sent you? Why did you go?" He asked, not letting the teen a second to answer. "Wait! Should you even be outside?"

It was Ran's turn to smile wryly. As he stared at his brother, the sense of déjà vu bloomed in his mind. On the sideline, the Varia members who had yet to go in, namely Belphegor, Lussuria and Squalo, stared at the cloud with mixed feelings.

Part of them felt ashamed for having someone like that on their team. Another was grateful they didn't have an older brother, in Bel's case that they hated one another and that he killed him.

The Cavallone men who assisted at the scene turned to look away, not knowing whether they should have witnessed the scene or not. After all, despite their strange antics, one was the feared Varia's cloud guardian, the rumored Black Plague recently turned white, while the other was the Boss of the most influential future mafia Famiglia, the Millefiore. Although they both seemed harmless, the men knew better. It wouldn't be surprising if they wiped them all from Earth's surface in a snap of their finger.

::

"You know Nii-chan," Byakuran began as he clung to Koro's arm. "I didn't know you had so many 'friends,'" he finished as he sent Mukuro a glare. The illusionist merely smirked. Unbothered, he seemed to enjoy the white's annoyance.

Yucca didn't take note of his brother's complaint, greeting Mukuro, the two started to tell one another on their encounter with the Vindice. They cleverly omitted some details, such as the severe injuries they may or may not have sustained, or how they perhaps fainted from flame overuse. Like two teenagers competing to see who was the toughest, they bragged until they burst out laughing.

Series of strange laughs slipped past their lips as they stared at one another, not wanting to admit defeat. What kind of loss? They didn't know and didn't particularly care. Nevertheless, as the two's exchange gained more and more attention, the annoyance of some grew in the process, Ran pulled his brother away from the heterochromatic eyed male.

Letting his brother do as he pleased, Yucca sat. A few feet away from the Varia, but still close enough to show he belonged with them, his rings and insignia being other indicators. Byakuran made himself comfortable, laying on his brother's lap, he aimlessly played with the other's white locks, enjoying the feeling against his fingertips.

The door opened, and a new group revealed itself. Their leader seemed to cower under the sudden attention but, nonetheless went onward as his friends followed him. His red eyes looked left and right as he searched for a place to sit and perhaps a familiar (and friendly) face until they settled on the white head.

He heaved a sigh of relief. At least he could ask him if anything, things wouldn't be too awkward either, he didn't want to sit next to those who had attacked him on day one. Although theoretically speaking Yucca did belong to team Mammon.

Koro's closed eyes fluttered open at the familiar aura that entered the room. His purple hues met his brother's own, a grin etched on the younger's face as he sent the older an inquiring look. Sensing the tattooed male's curiosity, Yucca smiled, his right hand gently ruffling the boy's white locks he lifted his line of sight to meet the redhead's.

"Enma-chan!" he beamed, unknowingly making his brother flicker his purple eyes the Simon's way. "Come, come," he ushered as his right hand tapped the empty space beside him.

Feeling better, Enma rapidly strode to sit next to the cloud. His red eyes met with the white-headed teen's own for a second, but he quickly looked away. Damn, if looks could kill.

"What have you been up to Enma-chan?" Koro asked as he instinctively patted the boy's red locks. "Have your injuries healed?" He rhetorically asked, his voice coated with light worry as his gloved fingers grazed the teen's bruises.

Enma could only mutely nod at the inquiry as he internally squirmed under the other white head's persistent stare which he suspected was, in fact, a glare. Was this perhaps the infamous 'Ran-chan,' he wondered.

The notion made him pause. Wait, on closer inspection, isn't he the guy who ruled the future? The realization made him stiffen for a second. What did he do for someone like him to resent him?

Noticing the red head's uneasiness, Koro refrained himself from chuckling. His eyes crinkled in reminiscence as he contemplated Byakuran's behavior. Casually closing them he thought back on this one conversation they had. It happened while was at Yuni's home. the fresh memory was crystal clear to Yucca.

"I was wondering, when did you realize something was... off with me?"

A slight tilt, a dimming grin, and a nostalgic glint.

"Yucca-ni-cha— No, you used to be such a wimp Nii-chan!"

"Really?"

An enthusiastic nod, light humming.

"Yeah, except perhaps when it came to me, Nii-chan was very reticent to do everything. Squirming whenever, jumping at the smallest sound, shrieking at every surprise or getting dizzy from the sight or scent of  blood—"

Did his disgust of filth come from here?

"Anyway, Nii-chan used to be much more humble too!"

A wry smile.

"Is that so," a whisper, "I apologize."

A bright grin.

"But I like the current Nii-chan too!"

Fondly smiling at the memory, Koro's gloved hand gently untangled his brother's white locks. A loving look in his eyes.

::

Feeling his resolve build-up, Tsunayoshi exhaled. His brown eyes settled on each of his ex-enemies' figures. "I need your help, I know that those I fought against are those I can rely on," he explained decisively.

The statement elicited a sly chuckle from Byakuran who now sat cross legs next to his brother. His body slightly leaned against the older's figure, he continued. "Let's be honest Tsunayoshi, the both of us and my brother could do this without them," he bragged, not bothered by the looks he was getting. Koro could only wryly smile at that.

Hearing the sky, Tsunayoshi shook his head. "The Vindice are strong, stronger than you think. There are still three of them, and Jager, supposedly the strongest, is someone whose strength I can't gauge."

Silence settled in the room as each member tried to digest the newly received information. Someone Sawada Tusnayoshi couldn't gauge the strength of. That, when he had beaten every one of them at one point, one way or another, directly or indirectly. It forced one to consider their strength, especially Jager's.

::

"Uhm, Professor Jo— I mean Yucca, could I talk to you?" Tsunayoshi asked, stopping the cloud guardian in his track as he was about to exit the house. The interpellation made some heads turn.

Mukuro merely sent Koro a mocking grin, waving at the male he went his way. Byakuran could only pout, he had wanted to spend more time with his brother, but under the brown head's gaze, he was forced to retreat. Hugging his brother once he flew away. Enma could only quizzically stare at his friend, a small smile went Yucca's way before the Simon excused themselves.

The Varia didn't bother to spare the cloud a glance. "We'll see you at the hotel Darling!" Lussuria bid cheekily as he followed the group, Bel's sardonic giggle accompanying the green's words as the assassins walked away.

Koro sighed, knowing he had to stay. Flashing the teen his business smile he nodded. "Sure, would you mind me eating at your house tonight?" He asked as he went back inside, following the teen.

Curse Arc is steadily reaching its end! 

Thanks for reading, until next time^^