"Kufufufu, won't you all please shut up?" Mukuro drawled upon waking up, a sickeningly sweet smile on his face as his voice dripped with unhidden sarcasm.

"Mukuro-chan!" M.M. exclaimed first at his voice, throwing her neatly dressed self at him for a hug. "I missed you so much!" she added, the blue head casually avoiding the girl.

"Welcome back, Mukuro-sama," Chikusa acknowledged, dipping his head the adult's way in greetings. Ken quickly followed his words with another welcome.

Ryota observed from afar, his body leaned against the wall, as his golden hues carefully eyed the heterochromatic eyed adult in front of him. The Illusionist had longer hair than before. Scattered all around his figure, the man expertly tied them all in a low ponytail.

"Master," Mikaël's eyes flickered beside him to see Fran's smaller figure enter the room. The boy yawned, merely nodding at the man who supposedly taught him everything.

The male waved at his pupil, letting his eyes fall on the green head next to him. "Oya?" he voiced with a raised eyebrow, an amused smirk dancing on his lips as his eyes glinted with mischief.

"My, you haven't changed one bit since I last saw you, Mika," the man greeted. "What is your secret, tell me?" He asked, his eyes seeming to gaze earnestly into Mikaël's golden ones.

Ryota pursed his lips, lightly biting his lips as he reached for his left earlobe— Fran raised an inquiring eyebrow, not voicing his curiosity. The teen felt the two cool gems under his fingertips and habitually relaxed his tense shoulders.

"My secret?" He repeated with a dry laugh. His head tilted to the side as he plastered one of his usual sham grin on his face.

Mukuro's eyes glinted. "Kufufu, yes," he stressed, appearing before the teen in a cloud of indigo. "Your secret."

Ryota unconsciously took a step back. He prevented himself from frowning. "I—"

"Shh," Mukuro cut as he placed one of his long fingers in front of the boy's mouth to shush him. "Hearing it from you isn't the same as hearing it from him," he taught with a sly smirk.

Ryota clasped his mouth shut, his golden eyes trained on the older's white finger before he flickered his eyes upward. They were so close, he dazedly mused. The man in front of him seemed ethereal as if he didn't belong to this world, without knowing it, Mikaël squinted his eyes.

Mukuro chuckled. "Kufu, how cute," he said, lightly bobbing his nose with his own. "Sadly, you're a bit too young to look at me like that Mika," he admonished, dramatically spinning on himself to walk back to his men, his long blue hair swaying behind him.

Ryota's half-lidded eyes snapped open, pulling him out of his daze. He blinked, once, twice, unable to process his previous actions. Unable to understand why he was mesmerized by the man before him for a moment.

"Anyway, back to business," Mukuro called out, gaining all of the people's attention as he grabbed some clean clothes. "Shouldn't we pay dear Byakuran a visit?" He asked with a grin, his eyes displaying a sharpness inappropriate of such an expression.

Mukuro grabbed his coat, swiftly slipping it on. "Now, shall we depart? Lady Uni won't wait for us eternally. "

::

"So, I've been wondering for a while now," Mukuro drawled, his chin rested on his hands as he casually eyed the golden-eyed teen in front of him. "Is it true you have a photographic memory of sort?" He inquired.

Ryota blinked, gently rubbing his earlobe. "Well, I wouldn't say I have one, but it isn't so far from the truth either," he admitted, a pensive look on his face. He, himself had never thought of the nature of his copying skill.

He was born with it, lived with it his whole life. It was an established part of himself, which he brought from his past life. A skill that defined him, that distinguished him from others.

Mukuro hummed. "Is that so?" He leaned into his seat, grabbing his glass and sipping on it as his eyes stayed focused on the green-haired teen. "Then what is it?"

Ryota observed his hands, opening and closing them in thoughts. If he had to define it— "I don't have a photographic memory, things I see, I have trouble remembering them all accurately," he began, remembering his horrendous life as a student, when he pretty much barely passed all of his grades.

Mukuro raised a skeptical eyebrow, and perhaps Mikaël sensed it because he cleared his throat. "My academic knowledge, that's all in the past," he clarified.

"Oh? So it was like that," Mukuro provided with a nod, a light chuckle slipping past his curled up lips.

Mikaël's cheek dusted themselves with pink in mild embarrassment, last time someone pointed out his failing academics he was in his teens, his past life's.

"A-anyway," he resumed, composing himself. "Though I don't have a photographic memory, the one people usually refer to, I suppose, it is close enough. I need to see it to remember it, but instead of my mind, my body does?" he elaborated, questioning his wording.

Mukuro's eyes narrowed, he hummed to himself before leaning forward and grabbing his drink. "So you need to see a skill to learn it," he reiterated.

"Basically."

"Kufufu, so that is the key behind the great Magicien's wide registry of skills," he drawled. "How scary," he added with a chuckle, his eyes glinting with a light Ryota didn't quite understand.

Mikaël shrugged it off. He grabbed his mineral water, sipped on it before putting the glass back on the table, careful as not to spill it on the jet's carpet.

"Well, at the end of the day, I mostly used it in sports," he admitted. "Though not so much in this life," he whispered.

Mukuro, as he was the closest naturally picked it up. He raised an eyebrow at the mention of the teen's former life, not commenting on it, merely storing the fact for a later time.

"Kufufu—" Ryota snapped out of his momentary daze. "— Since I am a generous soul, I suppose I could teach you a thing or to before we land in Japan," he said, a broad grin on his face.

Isn't it because you're bored? Ryota refrained from voicing his thoughts, merely nodding.

"After all, I doubt your current babysitters taught you anything useful regarding Mist Flames," he stated, his eyes focusing on the two earings on the teen's left earlobe.

One with an indigo gem, мгла engraved on the silver lining, and another slightly bigger one with an orange gemstone, небеса neatly carved in cursive letters underneath it.

"I don't know whether I am surprised that they let you carry those, or unsurprised by how much they trust their Lord," he admitted with a shake of his head, his eyes casually traveling lower to rest on two rings with similar-looking jewels.

Green eyes slightly narrowed. "This life," the teen muttered, not knowing how to feel at those words rolling off his tongue.

::

"Oya, such a grand reception," Mukuro drawled upon landing in Japan. "I am so flattered," he said, a sly smile on his face. His heterochromatic eyes traveled from one figure to another, not bothering to hide his amusement.

The tall raven head clicked his tongue, arms crossed over his chest, he tilted his head to the side, his steel-grey eyes sharply gazing into the Illusionist's.

"Oh?" He voiced, lips twitching as he failed to keep a polite smile plastered on his face. "Sorry to disappoint, but we weren't waiting for you," the man snapped back.

"Kufu, really, such a shame Nijimura-kun," his eyes flickered beside the Rain Guardian, and he dipped his head in greetings. "What about you, Hirose-kun, Volkov-kun?"

The Sun beamed at the Illusionist. "Same as Shuzo there," he answered for both of them, jabbing his thumb the older male's way. "Though it's good to meet you in person after hearing so much of you," he admitted, his smile radiating with excitement.

Shura nodded his head, his blue eyes quickly finding the golden-eyed teen's figure. 'Come over—' he began to sign before stopping himself and sighing. Ah, the boy didn't understand sign language yet. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, tucking a strand of pink behind his ear before tugging on the raven's dress shirt.

Junichiro hummed, turning to look at the Lightning beside him with a questioning look. "Yes, Shu-chan?" He inquired with a closed-eyes-smile. His hand automatically went to rest on the smaller's head to pat it.

Shura vehemently swatted it away but didn't bother taking a step back, instead remaining in the older's comfort zone. He gestured his right hand Mikaël's way while rapidly flailing his other limb. 'Hurry and pick him up!'

Jun chuckled, momentarily ignoring the people around them as he focused his whole attention on his sweetheart. "Sure, anything you say Shu-chan," he answered before tapping on Nijimura's shoulder.

Tee man was pulled out of his staring contest with Mukuro, he blinked his greyish eyes, narrowed them before sighing. "What is it?" He sternly asked his colleagues.

"Mmhmm, let's not forget we came to pick little Mika up," he reminded with a grin, his voice full of laughter at the childish display the Rain showed them. "We can settle the scores with Mukuro later," he added, his brown eyes glinting as they flickered to the blue head.

Mukuro chuckled, a hand to his mouth as he observed the бриз's exchange. "If it's only that," he mused, bringing a hand to the teen's back as he gave him a light push. "Then, don't mind us."

"We won't," Nijimura answered, his eyes trained on the tall man's figure. "Let's go, brat," he ordered, swiftly turning around and leading the way to their ride.

"Go, go," Junichiro sang, gently pushing the teen to go forward as he waved at the Kokuyo Land people in goodbye. "Until we meet again," he added, a knowing smile on his lips. Shura dipped his head, following the rest of the group out of the airport.

Mukuro chuckled, his heterochromatic eyes slightly crinkling as they glinted. "Kufufu, sure."

::

"Time's ticking," Nijimura began as soon as they took place in the sleek limousine. His calloused hands reached for the case before him, he dragged it to his knee, settling it on his lap.

His fingers swiftly went over the lock, which he quickly unlocked. "I honestly don't know whether you'll be able to use them, but better safe than sorry," he muttered, pulling two square boxes with intricate designs out of it. "Those are Mika's— well future you's box weapons."

Ryota carefully received them, marveling over each line of the box, its curves, motif. The layout was strangely enthralling, pulling him in and unabling him from looking away.

There was a light chuckle, and the teen blinked, flickering his gaze upward. "How cute, does it fascinate you so much little Mika?" Jun teased, his brown eyes trained on the teen's figure.

Ryota pursed his lower lip, a veil of pink covering his cheek. He rubbed his left earlobe, feeling the two colorful gems under his fingertips before clearing his throat and plastering a Colgate smile on his face. "I'm a bit curious," he conceded. "It's my first time seeing those 'box-weapons.'"

"My! Is that so?" Junichiro dramatically asked, bringing a hand to cover his mouth. Shura who sat next to him, typing away on his phone, rolled his blue eyes. Nijimura sighed, refraining himself from scolding the Sun for spewing so much nonsense.

Ryota nodded, his lips tugging down as he stared at the raven with complicated feelings. He didn't know how to retort, the male, after all, he wasn't his friend, he couldn't speak to him the same way.

"How tragic," Jun sighed, looking out the window, probably gauging the remaining time before they reached their destination. "Well, then let me introduce you," he magnanimously offered.

Casually, he reached for the indigo box. "That is Miroir," he introduced before pointing at the orange which remained in Mikaël's hands. "And this is Renaissance," he continued before chuckling. "Tacky right?"

Ryota dumbly nodded, repeating the name the older had uttered. The feeling of them rolling off his tongue was extremely pleasant, he loved it.

"Well, Mika came up with them," he admitted shaking his head in defeat, though the nostalgic smile on his face betrayed his good mood. "So take care of them until then," until he comes back.

"I will," Mikaël promised without noticing it.

"Great," Jun ruffled the teen's green locks. "Well, I doubt you'll be able to use the two of them, and if worst comes to worst, it is more likely they will protect you," he confessed with a sly smirk.

As if to back his words, Shura nodded, eyes trained on the box in the teen's hands.

Magicien: Wizard

Miroir: Mirror

Renaissance: Rebirth

мгла /mgla/: haze, mist, fog, brume 

небеса /nebesa/: heaven, sky, empyrean, ether, sphere

бриз/briz/: breeze, land breeze, land wind

The next chapter will have more focus on the "Kuroko's Basket" side of the story. 

Thanks for reading, until next time^^