He woke up with a start, suddenly sitting up in his bed he reached for his aching head. His ragged breathing echoed in the dimly litted room, the moonlight which threaded through the curtains cast a shadow over his white blanket.

Sweat beaded his forehead, leaving his short black bangs to stick to his face as he felt the slightly damp cover underneath the palm of his hand.

His eyes were tightly closed as he tried to soothe his throbbing head. He hissed, both from the physical pain of his previous exercises and his dream. His grip on the now wrinkled blanket tightened as he harshly twisted it.

His steely grey eyes cautiously fluttered open as he dazedly stared at the crumpled cover before him. "What—" he weakly exhaled. "The hell was that?" he muttered, keeping a tight grip on his sweaty locks of black, the other hand lightly rubbing his sinuses in another attempt to soothe the pain.

He reclined in his bed, leaning his sore back on the metallic bedframe, the chilly material sent a shiver down his spine at the contact. His head fell back, hitting the wall as his hand let go of his hair to rest on his chest, near his heart.

He could feel it restlessly drumming against his ribcage, the same way it usually did after an intensive training session or basketball match. Slowly, he regulated his breathing, and his heart rate went down. He heaved a relieved sigh, having calmed down his agitated body successfully.

He felt some apprehension at the prospect, never had he felt so agitated upon waking up from a dream— or nightmare for all it mattered. What's more, it all felt so real.

As if it all truly happened, and honestly speaking, the last scene only served to further fuel his rising doubts regarding the authenticity of his dream.

Only— how was he supposed to react when the only familiar face in this mess was his friend who he hadn't seen since Junior High?

::

Mikaël felt the blinding light against his eyelid gradually recede until it went back to normal. He carefully fluttered his golden eyes open, to be met with the troubled sight of his blond guardian.

The half Italian casually sat on one of the couch, one leg over the other as he held a cup of coffee— or so Ryota deduced from the scent which wafted to his nose.

Claude gingerly put his cup down before he rubbed the bridge of his nose in his usual fed up manner. Ryota felt himself unconsciously stiffen. His eyes darted to the two figures behind the adult, settling on Chikusa's tall figure before resting on Ken's agape face.

The blond clearing his throat brought his attention back to his manager. "Welcome back," Claude greeted, flickering his blue eyes upward to meet with Ryota's golden irises squarely.

Mikaël heard a weak chuckle escape from his lips as he brought a hand to rub his left earlobe. "Thanks?" he answered, unsure of the way he should act. His eyes darted to the side, evading the blond's piercing gaze, and he noticed the short purple head behind him.

Claude waved his hand, dismissing the green's answer before ushering him to sit down. He grabbed his coffee cup, sipped on it before putting it back down on the low table.

"So, since when did you have roommates?" he asked.

Ryota gave a dry laugh, rubbing the nape of his neck before sliding his hand to grab his earlobe. "Well, it's a funny story Claudecchi, really," he began, a light almost unnoticeable stutter to his voice.

Claude raised a dubious eyebrow, his blue eyes seizing his charge up and down before he heaved a sigh. "Such as?"

"M-Mikaël-sama is only helping us out while we search for a place to live," Chrome defended before biting her lower lip at the sudden attention. "I— what I mean is—" she stuttered, unsure of the way she should go on as blood gradually rushed to her face from embarrassment.

Claude sighed, he pinched the bridge of his nose before taking his glasses off and clicking his tongue. Chrome bit her words, unconsciously straitening her posture.

Ryota too stood straighter, though he looked at his guardian carefully. Never had Claude clicked his tongue before, and he didn't peg the man for someone to do something so unrefined. He didn't know why, but this Claude wasn't as scary as the one who usually scolded him, yet he couldn't help but feel more intimidated. The was a type of invisible pressure the man exuded— Ryota swallowed his saliva.

"Honestly, Mika, I don't give a damn about who you decide to live with," Claude began, his sharp eyes gazing into Mikaël's pools of gold. Ryota didn't know whether the sharpness came from the Italian's temper, or the lack of glasses on his nose at the moment, either way, he didn't like it.

"I'm, simply pissed at the fact that you didn't tell me," he stated, a disapproving look on his face. The adult reclined in his seat, his hand reached for his suit's pocket, and he pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

Ryota numbly nodded, a sham smile plastered on his face as his image of the respectable adult in front of him crumbled. He didn't remember the man ever smoking in front of him, or smelling like cigarettes in the first place.

The blond opened the cigarette pack before tucking one of the poisonous stick in his mouth. He pulled a lighter, and in a used fashion lit up the carcinogenic stick.

Mikaël lightly scrunched up his nose as the bitter scent of tobacco invaded the living room. The blond took a mouthful of nicotine before slowly exhaling, his tense shoulders relaxing in the process.

"Anyways, you better step up your game. Your absence for the past week didn't sit well with the higher-ups," Claude announced, not looking into the teen's absence. "Be prepared, your upcoming schedule is packed," he said, standing up and extinguishing the cigarette in the empty cup of coffee.

He dusted his suit off the nonexistent dirt before taking it off, leaving only his white dress shirt. He pulled a pack of gum out, threw one in his mouth, and put his glasses back on.

His hand went through his short locks of blond, neatly combing them. "I'll call you later Mika," he said, a pleasing smile painted on his face, one Mikaël knew all too well. "Keep your Friday night open, will you?" he asked as he walked up to the door.

Ryota nodded, admiring the way the blond had reverted to the adult who raised him for half of his life. He didn't know Claude was two-faced, then again those people usually did well when it came to hiding their game.

Not hearing his charge complain, the European man hummed to himself. "Great, I'll see you later then," he dipped his head in the other teens' direction. "Until then."

Ryota, a fake smile plastered on his face, waved at his manager, he felt unusually drained after their exchange.

"So," Chikusa began as he sat on the couch, facing them. "How was the future?" he indifferently asked.

Ryota's smile faltered as he remembered the chaotic place he was in moments ago. He stiffened, his mind went a mile a second as he reviewed his experience in the future.

He jolted, feeling a small hand resting on his shoulder, before snapping his head the limb's way and relaxing his posture. He blinked, quickly masking his previously tense face with a Colgate smile.

"It was enriching," he answered after some pondering. "For instance, I didn't know you were hitmen, though I had some doubts," he added, a wry laugh slipping past his lips.

Ken huffed, rolling his eyes as he slumped next to the glasses-wearing teen. "At last," he muttered.

Chikusa slightly pushed the rim of his glasses up the bridge on his nose, grimacing as the sensation of the other teen slumping next to him. "We weren't planning on hiding it," he countered, feeling a bit attacked by the green's words. "You never asked."

"True, true," Ryota admitted in a sing-song voice, his model persona never faltering. "I didn't mean to offend you-ssu."

Chikusa merely rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath before standing up and going back to his room.

::

"Oya oya, isn't that Mika?" Jun greeted as he slung an arm around his friend's shoulder. "At last you grace this subject with your presence," he joked, a cheeky grin painting his lips.

Ryota stared at his friend numbly, not answering his words. He brought his hands to the boy's cheeks to stroke them before rashly pulling on them and smacking them.

"Oh my God, you're real," he whispered with a deadpan, voice tinged with relief.

Jun rubbed his sore cheeks, his lower lip pursed out as he sent his friend an aggrieved look. "Aww, how could you be so mean to your devoted friend?"

Ryota simpered, he didn't apologize and swung his arm over the raven's shoulder, bringing him closer before messing his hair, being tall had its perks.

"Ahhh, promise me you won't ever die on me 'kay?" Ryota asked, ignoring the male's previous words as his golden eyes stared into Jun's pair of reddish-brown irises.

"What?" Junichiro squeaked out, too dumbfounded by the demand to suitably react at the moment.

"I mean," Ryota continued, dismissing how lost the raven seemed as he vented, needing to ease his nerves after his trip to the future. "If you do, I'll have to bring you back and kill you myself you know?" he teased, a small smile on his lips, though the pleading undertone in his voice didn't go unnoticed by the sharp teen.

Junichiro processed the information, not quite understanding where the request came from, before nodding and sending the green a sheepish smile. "Well," he drawled, evading the other's gaze. "You're going to laugh, but I dreamed of giving my life for you," he said with a dry laugh.

Ryota's grip on the raven's shoulder tightened. Though he guessed from Ken and Chikusa's behavior that others received some memories even if they weren't transported to the future, he'd hoped it wasn't the case for Jun. The man dIeD in the future.

"O-oh, is that so?"

Junichiro, perhaps sensing the male's unease, laughed it off. "Yeah, if only you were my type, I'd say we were meant to be," he teased, a dramatic edge to his voice as he swayed from side to side in a drunk manner.

Ryota, as his arm still rested around the raven's shoulder, swayed with him, a chuckle slipping past his lips. "Mou, such a shame, yes!" he agreed with as much melodrama as his friend.

The two teens walked up to the Senior High school building in a drunk manner until Mika felt a chill run down his spine. His grip on the raven's shoulder tightened as he abruptly pulled the Japanese boy to the side with him, both males fell to the ground ungracefully.

"What the—"

Jun interrupted his words at the sight of the infamous raven head who stood in their previous spot. The teen his eyes as sharp as usual minutely glared at them.

The pair of steel-grey irises flickered from the green head to the raven head, taking in their features as if engraving them in his memory before he huffed. With an unnoticeable wave of his hand, the tonfas threateningly pointed their way came back to his side.

Jun released a shaky breath, feeling he had just evaded a storm while Ryota continued to stiffly stare at the younger boy. At Hibari Kyoya, Namimori's infamous Demon Prefect and Tsunayoshi's Cloud Guardian— not that Junichiro knew the later.

Ryota observed the teen for what felt like hours when in reality only a few seconds passed. Perhaps was it an after effect of his trip to the future— of his inconceivable experiences since mingling with Takeshi's group, but the eye he used to look at Kyoya wasn't the same as before.

Before, Ryota only saw Kyoya as a teen in his rebellious period. A gangster, a bad boy as some would call them, the king of the sandpit as he liked to joke.

But now, after seeing the Varia and witnessing some of the boy's fighting prowesses in the future, he had to admit there was more to him than the cold and indifferent aloofness he displayed. Underneath it wasn't a squishy and lovable boy, there was a battling machine, immune to any type of compassion. An animal of sorts, only loyal to its own, to its pack—

And Ryota knew. He instinctively knew that whatever he did, said or offered to the boy, never would he belong to the close group which was Kyoya's people.

Maybe they weren't compatible. Maybe it was too late, he hadn't played his cards the right way. Maybe, maybe—

Ryota's eyes sharpened as he caught sight of the glinting edge of the Cloud Ring, and his mind went back to the situation at hand. Unconsciously he tightened his grip on Jun's arm, making the raven slightly wince.

He didn't know whether the boy came for a fight or not, but either way, he didn't want to reveal his skills yet, as he hadn't polished them. His trip to the future had taught him a few things, and keeping a card under his sleeve was one of them. Revealing his ownership over the ring, though he wasn't officially part of the Bratva, would put him at both advantages and disadvantages.

Those, he wasn't ready to face yet.

His hand in his pocket, his grip on the ring tightened as he began to carefully slip it around his finger, his golden irises tinting themselves with sparks of indigo until the two colors merged.

He could feel the haze of indigo gradually gathering around his hand as the ground under him became slightly blurry, indicating his use of Flame on his surroundings. He bit his lower lip, regretting his lack of control over the Flames as the small change may give him away.

He knew Hibari wasn't stupid, but impulsive was another story. 

Kyoya's eyes merely flickered to the side, witnessing some of the sparks before he rested his gaze on the two older boys. "Drinking is forbidden, I'll bite you to death," he threatened with a sharp glare before walking away.

Ryota's golden eyes remained glued to the teen's back, not quite understanding why he hadn't beaten them and let them go. He supposed Hibari matured from his stay in the future, but the nagging feeling in the back of his mind telling him otherwise didn't subside.

Jun followed the Third-year middle schooler with his eyes before standing up and helping Mikaël up. "Man, 'can't even joke anymore," he complained with a sigh as the two trudged to their class.

The two teens arrived at their class, on the first floor where every second-year courses were. "Right," Junichiro called out as if remembering something. He turned in his seat, facing Mikaël who sat behind him.

Ryota hummed, pulling his pencil case from his bag as he sent the raven a look, telling him to go on.

"Do you know Sign Language?" he inquired, minutely dodging the green's gaze as he scratched his cheek in an embarrassed manner.

Mikaël's eyes darted upward to meet Junichiro's pool's of dark brown. He smirked, the romance between his friend's future self and Shura hadn't gone unnoticed by the teen.

"Oho?" he drawled, wiggling his brows at his flustered friend. "Why?"

Jun's cheeks flushed at Mika's teasing, he huffed, smacking the green on the head. "Argh, forget it, I was stupid to ask," he dismissed, hurriedly turning around.

Ryota laughed. "C'mon, Juncchi, don't pout," the ex-basketball player said as he poked his friend's back. "I was teasing," he admitted with a smile. The raven didn't turn, focusing on his homework as if they were the most exciting thing in the world.

The model sighed as he rested his head on his desk. "I may know a thing or two about Sign Language," he finally said, grabbing the raven's attention.

"Wait, for real?"

Ryota nodded, a small smile on his face. "Well, only a thing or two though."

Junichiro dismissed it with a wave of his hand, too happy to learn one thing in Sign Language.

Mikaël looked at his friend with fondness before mentally sighing. So Juncchi knows everything. He paused, his gaze flickering to the side, though unconsciously his mind sought the raven's presence to be at peace, as if afraid— no, terrified of him disappearing once more.

Of him escaping his grasp and leaving him powerless, uselessuselessuselessuseless—

He shook his head, stopping himself before he fell into a spiral of self-hate. Deciding to close his golden eyes, he hummed to himself— a way to slightly divert his attention as he thought back on his trip and the people who received dreams and visions. 

Then who else knew?  And most of all, were they aware it wasn't a 'dream?'

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

Truth be told, this chapter was supposed to introduce the Simon Famiglia. But then I went to the Wiki and saw they only came in after a month (-_-')

Thanks for reading, until next timse^^