{Namimori, Japan}

As he walked back to the hotel the Varia resided at, Yucca's mind went back to his and Tsunayoshi's talk. He knew the teen was different from when they first met, that he had more confidence in himself, people he could rely on, and friends and family to protect.

He knew it, but between knowing and seeing it, the difference was significant. He felt a bit happier as he remembered the shine in the teen's brown eyes. The overflowing will to fight and confidence he emitted, the aura of a leader even. It reminded him of his students.

His students. The notion made his previously grinning face fall a little. The content smile turned nostalgic as a flash of unhidden guilt momentarily passed through his purple irises. He wanted to see them so much but at the same time, he couldn't.

He couldn't since Mammon's request came first. The mist was someone he worked with and respected. Therefore he couldn't bear to let them down. Then, even if he could see them, how could he approach them without seeming suspicious?

Koro sighed in mild defeat. His nostalgic smile had long since faded as a pensive expression adorned his face. His left gloved hand reached for his white locks as he roughly ruffled them, he didn't like to reflect too much about Kunugigaoka linked business. It always gave him an incurable migraine, and although he knew he couldn't run away from the matter if he wanted to feel at peace, Koro liked to believe otherwise.

He heaved another helpless sigh, his eyes looking up at the night sky he unconsciously went to search for the moon, the magnificent crescent, the cause of all his headaches. At the sight of it, he could only smile deprecatively, no matter how much he wanted to run away from it, he couldn't.

The moon, like the sword of Damocles that once hanged above his head, now shone as a reminder of his blunders.

Blunders, maybe the first mistake to solve was his lost disciple?

With these thoughts, Yucca entered the deserted hotel hall.

::

"Say, uhm Yucca," the brown-headed teen began as he stared at the white head in front of him. His words elicited a hum from the cloud who smiled, ushering the boy to go on. Feeling the man's focus on him, Tusna felt himself squirm. The attention made him a bit restless.

Closing his brown hues, he inhaled deeply before silently exhaling. His eyes snapped open, revealing a warm orangish color as he looked into the older's purple eyes. His previous nervousness seemed to have vanished as he confidently gazed at the Varia Guardian.

"I know it may sound irresponsible of me since I'm the one who made the plan and all," he started his voice getting a tad uneven as he rambled a bit. A small chuckle from the cloud brought Tsunayoshi back, clearing his throat, the sky resumed. "I noticed that you get along well with Mukuro, Byakuran, Xanxus, Squalo, and Dino," stealing a glance at the male to gauge his reaction, Tsuna heaved a relieved sigh.

It seemed the male wouldn't contradict him on this point. "That's why I wanted to know if you could look after them?" He asked, his answer was a skeptical look and a raised eyebrow. He mentally gulped, feeling a bit of his confidence dwindle before going on. "I mean, to be sure they don't go out of bounds?" he questioned, not fully knowing what he was saying himself anymore.

An amused giggle slipped past Yucca's curved up lips as he brought one of his gloved hand to his face. "I see," he muttered as he fondly crinkled his eyes to stare at the teen. The way he went from confident to a rumbling mess somehow reminded him of Okuda Manami and Kayano Kaede or Yukimura Akari.

His right hand reached for the teen's spiky yet fluffy locks of brown as he gently ruffled them. "I'll see what I can do. But I won't promise you anything," he said as he retracted his gloved member. The male stood up, his left hand holding a cup of coffee, he silently drank the hot beverage before setting the cup down.

"If that is all, I'll be taking my leaves. Have a good evening, Tsunayoshi."

::

As he woke up, much like every other member of the Varia, Yucca's first reflex was to check his battle watch's state. A relieved sigh escaped his lips as he confirmed the accessory was in good shape.

Extirping his tired body from the cover, he mechanically made his way to the bathroom. From the time, most of the members were already awake. Therefore he shouldn't encounter anyone on his way.

It took him a bit less than an hour before he went out of the bathroom. As he dressed in his usual attire, namely a black shirt, black pants, and black leather gloves, Koro went to reach for his jewelry box. Opening it, he retrieved his two rings before slipping them on his left gloved hand.

His right hand took his hanged black trench coat before putting it. Glancing at his reflection in one of his daggers, he narrowed his eyes. His left free hand calmly combed his white locks as he flashed one of his business smile to his reflection. A satisfied hum escaped his lips as he retracted his blade.

Going out of his room and into the shared room, he noticed the whole Varia was missing. His head tilted to the side in contemplation. Where were they?

His purple eyes scanned his surrounding for a hint, though in the back of his mind he had an idea on their whereabouts. His eyes settled on the low table, in front of the couch Bel usually laid on.

On it was a neatly folded paper with his name written in cursive letters. It didn't take long for Yucca to guess Lussuria was the one who wrote the message. Grabbing the note, he carefully opened it before arriving face to face with the words sun wrote.

It was no surprise, globally speaking Lussuria was telling him how they departed around ten in the morning. They hadn't bothered waking him up as his door was locked and his last intervention against the Vindice resulted in him fainting. A few flowery words were dispatched here and there by the guardian throughout the letter, and the white couldn't help the chuckle from escaping his lips as he read over the last line.

Take care Darling! Mama will be back soon, a small drawn heart following the sentence.

Koro could only nod in understanding, he knew he had slept in, but he didn't think they would leave him behind. Well, he guessed he wouldn't have woken up anyways, the cumulated fatigue was something he needed to get rid off. And, what better way to do so than sleeping?

Anyway, he took a glance at his phone, 2.58pm he mused before cracking his neck a bit. Perhaps he should hurry to their meeting spot. Who knew when the fourth round would begin?

On cue, as his screen's displayed time turned to 3.00pm, the battle watch began to give off a shrilling beeping noise.

"One minute until the battle commences. The time limit this time is 90 minutes."

Koro bolted out of the living room, Bel's laugh and Lussuria's audible sigh echoed behind him as he mentally cursed himself. Why does he always need to jinx himself?

::

Excuse me? What greeted Koro as he finally managed to get to the meeting point was the sight of his brother, his sole relative, being pierced by the hand of a zombie-like man. Jager, Yucca assumed.

Byakuran fell to the ground as Xanxus shot his charged firearm at the bandage covered body. Unlike his previous plan, which consisted of assisting them if needed and otherwise stay hidden, the cloud found himself propelling his body to the lying white head.

Preoccupied with his brother's state, he caught from the corner of his eyes Squalo's pitiful state. And, as Xanxus got both his arms and legs cut off, Yucca's ring suddenly burst into flames.

Ah, forget about helping them from the sidelines, he had a battle watch he could do way more than provide support.

Swiftly reaching for his handgun, he shot at the Vindicare guard, not caring whether or not the bullet reached its target. The only goal was to catch the representative's attention.

As expected, Jager easily dodged before aiming at the cloud. "Don't try to save me!" Yucca cried, startling all who watched. The hell did he mean?  Mammon mentally scoffed. Be my guest.

The guard appeared in the cloud's blind spot, and as he was about to thrust his arm in his stomach, Koro dodged, barely. The pattern repeated itself again and again. It was as if every time the Vindice guard would go for the kill a mysterious force pushed Koro out of the way.

"Is that all you've got?" Yucca taunted shamelessly. Out of his usual business smile when he was confident, or his serious look when prudent, it was an uncaring grin that adorned his face. "And here I thought you were," he barely dodged another fatal hit, a scornful laugh escaped his lips which curved into a mocking grin. "Strong," he finished before jumping back.

As he flickered his right wrist, a dagger went to his palm. "You're, really weak for someone so strong," he added, voice dripping with contempt as he went on the offensive. To rile up others, now that was something he was good at.

The Varia and allied team could only stare, baffled at the white's ruthlessness. Well, he did belong to the Varia who was one hell of a bloodthirsty group. The most surprising was the expression he wore and his oddly proficient ability to evade any hit.

The Arcobaleno who watched, namely Mammon, Reborn, and Verde only grimaced in distaste. The way the male acted was a bit too similar to the way he was in the future. It was discomforting, but they could only repress the burgeoning disgust in their guts. Now was not the time, Bermuda was a bigger problem.

The condescended energy of sky flame which suddenly appeared on the battleground made their focus go back to the battle. "I figured you weren't the type to remain on one spot," Yucca explained as he slashed through a black mist.

Jager didn't answer, merely sparring the cat a glance. Although the flame energy in it was exceptional, the aura it emitted was anything but imposing. It seemed like a weak cub of strong descent. Nothing extraordinary, a failed breed.

As the cat laid on the ground, seemingly carefree of the ruckus and basking in the sun, Koro charged at Jager again. "Aguri," he whispered as the small octopus popped around his wrist. Instead of thrusting at the male, Yucca slid under him.

It seems the guard hadn't expected this kind of strategy as he didn't immediately react. Aguri wrapped her tentacles around him as a mean of restriction and Koro couldn't help but notice how the man had slowed down. He shrugged it off, better make use of this possible weakness.

"Checkmate," he whispered, a content smirk on his face as a low meowing sound echoed in the bandaged individual's ears. Jager's whole body went stiff. Huffing and puffing, Yucca pulled on his left wrist where Aguri was to put the guard down.

It seems the energy stocked in Metsu wasn't enough, he mused as the feline dispersed in a cloud of blackish orange. Walking closer to the Vindicare guard, he could feel through Aguri's small form their pulse, if they had one, was weak. Their energy, or maybe flame was almost exhausted.

Now, to destroy his boss w—

An arm aimed at his chest, and although he had felt the presence as it appeared behind him, Koro's tired body couldn't react. His eyes merely widened before a deprecative smile adorned his lips.

"Right," he mumbled before choking blood.

His body which should have been able to withstand, even dodge such a blow found itself in a complicated situation. His now half-lidded purple eyes searched for a mop of white before settling on his brother's lying form. At least he wouldn't be alone this time, he thought. 

As he fell to the ground, Yucca found himself face to face with the sky. It was a beautiful sight, different from his death as Koro-sensei, but, nonetheless gorgeous. And there, in the middle of it all, a magnificent crescent hanged.

Ah, it seems this time, he wouldn't meet them.

Perhaps it was Fate.

—Yucca's body jerked to the left, far away from Jager's almost lifeless one. Where he stood, a hand belonging to an unknown male was. Who? The white's eyes flickered to the figure's wrist, was that, "Bermuda?" He whispered in mild disbelief.

It seems that even if he dodged now, he would die by the male's hand later. His tired eyes followed as the Arcobaleno easily took down Mukuro, Dino, and Kyoya, leaving behind a bloodbath. Was this the end? 

As he felt fatigued engulf him, Yucca caught a flash of orange in the sky. A small smile bloomed on his face. Maybe not. 

::

Purple eyes carefully fluttered open, Yucca found himself facing a white ceiling. He blinked, once, twice until the soft beeping sound of electronics came to his ears. His head turned to the left where a monitor indicating his heartbeat was.

A hospital? He mused. Leaning against his arm, he sat up. It seems he wasn't alone, Squalo and his Boss laid on two different beds. Both had yet to wake up, perhaps from the more serious injuries they sustained.

Koro took in his complexion before carefully stretching each of his members. There didn't seem to be any problem, the reason he fainted, most probably was flame depletion. As he stood up, the white noticed his clothes, coat, and some of his weapons laid on a chair next to him.

He smiled, Lussuria, as he was the mom of their group, should have been the one to leave his stuff next to him. Grabbing his trench, he carefully slipped it on as not to injure himself or strain his sore muscles.

As he walked closer to his comrades, his daggers, rings, and gun back at their usual places, he slipped his leather gloves on. Gently combing his white locks, he smiled in content at the sight of his not so dead comrades.

Dead, the word like a silent reminded echoed in his mind. What about Ran? 

Images of his brother's pierced stomach before he fell to the ground streamed in his head like a broken cassette as he slowly remembered all that had happened the previous day.

Abruptly turning away from his Boss' unusually peaceful figure, he dashed out of the hospital room. 

So, Guess the Curse Arc is over?

Sorry for the late update, thanks for reading, until next time^^