"—Now, let us see what our celebrity specialists have to add on the case," the woman addressed, turning to face the petite female and strict looking male by her side.

The girl pinched her brows, further highlighting the roundness of her face as she exaggeratedly pursed her lower lip out. "I am extremely disappointed Kise-kun, to be honest," she confessed, shaking her head from one side to another. "I didn't expect him to be such a— such a beast."

The male nodded in agreement, neatly pushing his black-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I must agree with Akira. I am quite disappointed in Kise's behavior. Of course, there has yet to be any conclusive evidence on the case, but seeing the direction this incident is taking, it will be hard for Kise to explain himself."

Golden eyes carefully fluttered open, revealing a pair of dazed pools of gold. Ryota frowned, blinking as to chase the sleepiness away as he blankly stared at the ceiling in front of him.

Half asleep, he slowly sat up from the bed he laid in, only the creaking sound of the slat echoed the room as he took in his surroundings. His memory was foggy. He remembered fetching Mukuro, regrouping with the Bratva, learning of his friend's whereabouts, summoning Miroir and then— he bit his lower lip. His head throbbed with pain— and then nothing.

Did they succeed? Probably, otherwise, why would he be here? Then, was he in the future, or did he go back to the present? His eyes that rested on his lap, covered with a white blanket, flickered to his side. They settled on the two boxes and a pair of rings by his side.

So he wasn't back. He felt slightly disappointed, heaving a depressed sigh, before recomposing himself. At least, they won. Otherwise, his weapon wouldn't be so near to him, he comforted.

He heard the sound of the door being unlocked before it slid open, and the pitter-patter of footsteps entered the room. He couldn't see who it was, as a thick white curtain surrounded his bed, his body tensed in anticipation. He unconsciously reached for the retractable stick usually bound to his belt, only to feel emptiness and the smooth fabric of his pajamas against his clammy palms.

The fact made him momentarily freeze, all rational thoughts were thrown out of the window, as he rashly reached for his rings and box weapons, forgetting his previous conclusions regarding his whereabouts.

Quickquickquickquickquic—

"Mika-senpai!" the curtain effortlessly slid open. Ryota, as if it was second nature, narrowed his eyes, alert. "You're awake!" the raven head beamed as he neared the clinical bed his Senior used.

Ryota exhaled, not letting his guard down as he took in the teen's figure. An illusion? Was it one?

Wasitonewasitonewasitonewasiton—

"Mika-senpai?" the teen's worried voice broke him out of his momentary trance. Ryota blinked, he took a more comfortable seating on the bed. Unconsciously, he kept his weapons within arms reach. "Are you okay?"

Mikaël plastered a fake smile on his face as he shook his head in denial. "Yes, don't worry Takeshi," he reassured, his eyes solely focused on the teen's form as he searched for a distinctive trait, a weapon. "Everything's perfect!" he beamed.

Takeshi knitted his brows, feeling suspicious, before nodding. "I'll go and tell the others you woke up," he said as he prepared to walk away, only to be stoped by a hand tugging at his shirt. "Is something wrong, Senpai?"

"Ah," Mikaël blinked his golden eyes, not completely understanding his movement before hurriedly letting go of the fabric. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to grab you," he apologized, his tense shoulders turning more relaxed as he confirmed the realness of the boy before him.

Takeshi nodded, not taking note of the odd movement. It wasn't strange for Mikaël to act impulsively. The battle against Byakuran was still fresh, and sequelae weren't surprising. With these thoughts, the teen gently closed the curtain before making his way out of the room.

Ryota heard the fading sound of footsteps, followed by the thump of the door closing and he heaved a relieved sigh. He leaned into the mattress, shutting his eyes as his hand casually reached for his left earlobe, rubbing it and feeling the two familiar gems underneath his fingertips.

Not an illusion.

He barely relaxed his tense shoulders, allowing a calm smile to slip on his lips, before his memories rushed to his mind as if waiting for him to relax his stance, let his guard down. Like a truck, it hit him.

He stiffened, his left hand froze as his right hand tightly gripped the cover, twisting it and urgently crumpling it under his fingers. His smile faltered, the small light in his eyes extinguished, he bit his lower lip.

His golden eyes glazed over. He snorted, mocking himself as he fell back in the bed, covering his sight with his arms.

Right, the reason behind his survival was his friend's death. How could he forget?

Tap tap tap tap.

Mikaël lifted his head. His glazed eyes met with crystal blue ones. He exhaled a shaky breath.

"Shura."

::

Ryota starred at his reflection in contemplative silence. He gently tucked some of his green strands behind his ear, revealing two dull gems.

A sigh escaped his lips as his golden eyes narrowed, focusing on the lifeless gems in the mirror, his hand carefully hovered over them, tentatively reaching for them before gently grazing their smooth surface.

He brought his second hand, and with precise movements took off the ear ornaments. The gesture lasted less than half a minute, but to Mikaël, it appeared particularly long. There was a sense of loss as he stared at his naked earlobe, leaving only two small empty holes.

His gaze settled on the two stones in his hand, one orange, and one indigo before he delicately settled them in the velvety crate in front of him.

"Mmm, are you going to cry?"

Mikaël blinked, coming out of his muddled thoughts as he hurriedly shut the lid, turning around to face the voice's owner.

"So?" the teen apathetically asked with a tilt of his head, as he studied the older male. "Are you?" he reiterated, owlishly blinking his green eyes. "Because if so, you'll look ugly, not that you usually aren't," he added, flickering his eyes to the side with an insolent shrug of his shoulders.

Ryota snorted, a faint smile painting his lips as he looked at his brother's older self. "Mou, how mean," he whined, standing up and dusting the nonexistent dust off his lap.

Fran hummed, unimpressed as he let a yawn escape his lips. "If you say so," he sauntered closer to the teen, leaning forward to take a closer look at the box. "Oh, that's big bro's," he stated, his fingers gently gliding along its lid. "Smooth and pretty," he whispered, more to himself than anything.

"Like me."

Fran's fingers paused, his eyes flickered to look at Ryota's form, and he chuckled, momentarily putting the older in a daze— it was a truly mesmerizing chime. "Sure," he drawled, happily crinkling his eyes. "If that makes you happy," he teased, spinning on himself before exiting the room.

Fran, a noticeable skip in his steps, hummed to himself, not taking note of the strange looks sent his way as he walked further into the base. Why care for those people anyway? What mattered was himself and his family, the rest was only superfluous.

Having his brother's mood lifted, he felt a sense of accomplishment wheel up inside of him. Ah, how great it was to help out others from time to time.

::

"Is everyone ready?" Irie asked, his eyes focused on the computer before him as he addressed the teens from another dimension.

Tsunayoshi confidently nodded, his honey-brown eyes traveled from one figure to another, checking to see if everyone was there, before pausing. "Wait," he interrupted as Spanner began to type on his keyboard. "Where's Mikaël-senpai?"

The two engineers, lifted their gaze, quickly looking over at the group before confirming the Vongola's words, the green wasn't present. "Maybe he's talking to his Bratva?" Spanner provided, bitting on his candy stick, he flickered his eyes back to his screen. "He should be there in a minute, I saw them on my way there," he added, referring to the Russian mafia men.

True to his words, Mikaël's figure emerged from the door no less than a second later. The teen held what seemed to be a phone in his hand, as he quietly nodded his head repetitively, as if afraid to interject.

Following him was a tall raven head the group had come to know as Nijimura. The adult kept his sharp gaze on the teen, making sure he didn't escape or do any rash movement as he listened in to his conversation, most probably with the Bratva's headquarter Reborn deduced from his student's shoulder.

The hitman seized up the adult, who he now knew as Mikaël's Rain Guardian, before cocking his head to the side, looking for any other member of the Bratva. He saw Fuuta, merrily walking up to them before striking a conversation with the older male, but no one else.

He unnoticeably pursed his lips. Of course, he hadn't expected Makariy to come all the way to bid his Boss' past self farewell. The man was too much on a hermit to even consider the option, but he hoped the younger member would have made the trip.

He sighed, he supposed not, Junichiro was no more, as for Shura— he gave the room another quick overview before shaking his head in defeat. It appeared, except for greeting the male when he woke up, he wouldn't show himself again. At least, not to the current Mikaël.

His inky black eyes settled on Mikaël's tall figure once again, watching as the male spluttered some words of farewell and apologizes— or so he understood from lip-reading.

The teen hanged up, heaved a sigh, a contended and relaxed smile on his face, an expression Reborn didn't think the man possessed. He observed as he returned the phone to the raven head, not missing the flash of guilt which momentarily flickered in both their eyes.

He studied, as they easily buried it behind their usual persona before Mikaël bade them goodbye at once, hastily making his way to them as he— Reborn imagined, was aware of his growing lateness.

The hitman didn't say anything when the teen reached them, apologizing to everyone, a sham grin plastered over his face as he hit up a conversation with Yamamoto. He barely dipped his head in acknowledgment, his mind going over the boy's behavior.

The way he moved, how he held himself, the unconscious guarded position he kept, always ready to strike back or defend himself if needed.

He narrowed his eyes, dipping his fedora and successively casting a shadow over them. He knew that experience was the best way to forge someone, but he hadn't expected Mikaël to grow so much from it.

Perhaps, this was the potential he once saw in the teen when he tried to make him Guardian of the Mist. And maybe, this was the reason why Aleksey, despite Mikaël never following the curriculum every бриз Boss went through, accepted him as his successor.

After all, the man wasn't the hegemony of kindness. Whoever it was, be it, family, friend or stranger, if they didn't have the abilities or talent he wouldn't mind crushing them.

Aleksey was a Sky, that was a fact. But Aleksey was first and foremost a raging Storm, ready to snap at any given moment. If Mikaël didn't have the abilities or predispositions to succeed him, he most probably would have killed him from the moment he knew of his existence.

Someone with his blood flowing through his veins, out in the wild without any supervision? A living ticking bomb for both himself and the Bratva? Never would Aleksey tolerate it.

Reborn sighed, feeling an incoming headache charging his way as he rubbed his temples in a circular motion. Ah, speaking of which, genealogically speaking, shouldn't he be considered Tsuna's uncle? Or maybe was it cousin?

He didn't know, but it didn't change the fact they were family, distant family, but family nonetheless. He tiredly exhaled, hoping the Russian mafia Boss wouldn't cause too much trouble for his pupils when the inheritance ceremony began.

After all, бриз, despite not officially begin Vongola's ally, tacitly helped them in shadow. So long as their interest didn't collide, there was no problem, and so long as they acknowledged one another, how could trouble arise?

He sincerely wished Aleksey wouldn't come to the ceremony for one reason or another. After all, despite his student being extremely promising and strong for his age, he didn't think he would win just yet against Aleksey.

At least, not if Aleksey didn't come out to be some Evil Boss ready to kill everyone while aiming for world domination. He defeatedly shook his head. Right, Tsunayoshi didn't have the resolve to fight the man just yet.

White blinding light engulfed them, and Reborn closed his eyes, halting his train of thoughts on the Russian Boss. Those problems, he would deal with them later, if they ever came, and anyway, it always was a good opportunity for Tsunayoshi to grow.

Next thing he knew, he was standing in the Sawada household's living room, and Nana was doing the laundry.

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

I'm back! Since holidays begun here's a chapter, expect some regular update for the upcoming month at least ^^

Next chapter, back to the original timeline. Thanks for reading, until next time^^