Sprawled over the brown leather fauteuil, head thrown backward, a hand atop the backrest and the other swaying above the floor, Ryota lazily stares into the camera lens. His golden eyes glint under the artificial lighting, making them seem particularly aggressive— feral as he carefully narrows them, sharpening his disheveled looking features.

His hair was slightly damp from the water bottle previously emptied over his head, making his green locks stick to his face as small droplets dropped onto the velvety carpet. He flutters his thick and elongated coal-black eyelashes, the droplets trembling at every one of his lashes' moves.

It was a mascara add, and as peculiar as it may seem the brand wanted a male model to showcase their new product. Something about androgynous beauty, the contrast between masculinity and female sensuality. Supposedly a way to stand out from every other cosmetic agency.

Ryota had no say in the choice of his photoshoot, Claude as his manager chose it, merely sending him the date and location in a short text upon landing in Japan. Though Ryota felt some surprise at the prospect of modeling for some mascara, it didn't bother him much. After all, makeup was the norm for models, posing for them wasn't so different from his usual jobs.

The shutter of the camera reverberated in the silent room and Ryota carefully brought the mascara closer to himself, almost cradling it as he adopted a more comfortable position. He brought his legs closer to his chest, leaning his head on his knee before quirking his lips in a ghost of a smile.

The shutter of the camera rang. "Laugh a bit, Mika, make it seem dazzling," the photographer instructed from behind the lens, waving his hand to show his point.

The green head mutely complied, throwing his head backward he flashed the camera a bright smile, showing off his pearly whites— laughing wasn't needed for him to portray laughter, what mattered was the illusion of it in the final product.

The photoshoot went on for another half an hour before the photographer called it quits. Voices blended as chatter invaded the previously silent studio. Ryota grabbed a towel from his blond manager, drying his damp hair before handing it back.

"Not bad Mika," Claude acknowledged as he took the fluffy towel back, folding it in the process. "How was your break?" he offhandedly questioned, pushing the rim of his glasses up the bridge of his nose before skimming through his agenda.

Golden eyes flickered to look at the blond, patiently waiting for the makeup artist to take the cosmetics off. "Rewarding, Elder Martial Brother taught me a lot," Ryota answered with a sly smile on his face, his gaze focused on his manager's form in the mirror as he let a sham laugh slip through his parted lips.

The tapping of Claude's pen against the cover of his planner momentarily paused before resuming, going back to its previous pace. "Oh, good for you Mika," he praised, a pleasant smile adorned his features as he looked up to meet the green head's golden gaze in the mirror.

Ryota hummed, "Right, Claudecchi, I'll stay in Tokyo with Juncchi this weekend," he told, closing his eyes as the makeup artist removed the eye makeup. "Don't be too surprised if there's a dent in the account you lent me, I need to buy Juncchi's forgiveness-ssu!"

Claude's blond eyebrow twitched in what Ryota deduced was annoyance, but he kept his perfect facade up. The half-Italian's lips gently curled up, his blue eyes crinkled. "It's your money after all," he complied. "Also, next week on Wednesday you'll have a shoot with a new up and coming female Idol—"

Female Idol? Oh, how he hates Idols.

"Her stage name is Ruby—"

Ryota frowned, the name ringing some bells he'd rather not hear. "What's her real name?" he cut, his tone somber, lacking its usual fake cheerfulness.

Claude raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the teen's demand, noting how shaken he seemed at the girl's stage name— an unknown name up until a few weeks ago, and frowned. "Fujimoto Akari."

The minor almost unnoticeable shift in Ryota's aura didn't go unnoticed by the blond informant. Claude pushed the rim of his glasses up the bridge of his nose, telling himself to do a thorough background check on the no-name girl.

"Ah, right Claudecchi," the blond hummed in acknowledgment. "Could you look into someone for me please?"

Claude looked up from his phone dubiously. "A background check?"

Ryota shook his head. "Something more precise if possible, the name is Song Hye."

Claude blinked his blue eyes, repeating the name in his mind before nodding. "Sure," he answered, holding the suspicious feeling in his guts. Anyway, checking on this Song guy while looking up the female idol would be a piece of cake. Although he had to wonder why Mikaël was interested in this guy.

::

"So, is super-star Mikaël Lamarre finally free for this humble peasant?" Junichiro drawled, his voice holding some bite as he harshly glared at his green-haired friend.

A dry laugh slipped past Ryota's parted lips as he walked closer to the raven head. He combed his green hair, easily reaching for his left earlobe and rubbing it as he forced one of his plastic smiles on his face, a vain attempt to divert the boy's attention.

The black-haired teen sent the green a look before sighing. "Scratch that fake-ass grin off your face, it's giving me chills," he stated, looking at his nails as if they just got a manicure.

The grin faded and Ryota pursed his lower lip out. "Mou, don't be so mean Juncchi!" he whined, letting go of all pretense in front of his friend. Junichiro simply was that good, nothing went past him— though it remained he was the worst actor Ryota had ever met.

"That's better, your whiny face suits you better than your plastic one," Junichiro praised with a grin, not missing the occasion to openly mock the green head before he twirled on himself to walk away from the shooting studio.

In a slightly better atmosphere, the two teenagers made their way down Tokyo's crowded streets. The two mindlessly bantered for a while, catching up on their time away from one another as they searched for a place to eat lunch. It was a quarter past eleven and both boys were famished. They hadn't eaten in the morning, waking up too late for one and not feeling hungry for the other— a cup of hot cocoa or juice wasn't enough to sustain them until lunchtime.

"'You mind if we take something at Maji Burgers?" Ryota asked as they neared the fast-food restaurant, his finger pointed in the grand M's direction to show his point as he looked at his raven-haired friend with an inquisitive look.

Junichiro hummed, his dark brown red-tinted eyes flickered to the white letter on a yellow font before he hummed, giving a small nod. "Sure, it's your money after all," he said, a silent way to remind the green he was paying for both of them this weekend.

Catching the hidden message, Ryota chuckled. "I'll bring you to one of my favorites tonight, don't worry," he shamelessly coaxed, his hands went to rest on the slightly smaller male to give him a shoulder massage.

Junichiro rolled his eyes, swatting the boy's hands away. "Eww, I don't see you this way dude, don't touch my body so casually," he joked, feigning a repulsed look as he jumped away from his friend.

Ryota brought a hand to his chest in fake hurt, managing small tears to appear in his eyes, he dramatically wiped them away before falling to his knees. "Oh, how your rejection hurts me, Juncchi!" he clamored. "I thought we had something special!" he cried, his golden eyes pitifully staring at his friend. Under the sunlight, they seemed to glisten— most probably from his recent fake tears.

Junichiro snorted, entirely engrossed in the green's dramatical mood he continued. His forearm to his forehead, he threw his head back, taking his black-rimmed glasses off to add to the drama. "I'm sorry Mika, but I already have someone else in my life," he moaned. "His hair is the prettiest shade of pink and his eyes the clearest blue I've ever seen," he shamelessly boasted, not taking note of the green who continued acting pitiful the more he spoke.

"T-then, why did you lead me on?" Ryota inquired, his voice hoarser than usual as he managed to squeeze out a few more tears.

Junichiro sighed, he massaged the bridge on his nose before putting his glasses on. "I'm sorry Mika, I didn't mean to. My charms are simply so good!" he flaunted. He was about to go on when he suddenly caught on the passerby's chatter.

As if finally realizing both drama queens weren't alone, shame overtook him. His cheeks erupted in beautiful red as he covered them with his hands.

"Mom, what are they doing?"

 "Don't look at them, honey, mom will buy you an ice-cream."

"Are they filming?"

"Kids these days."

"Do they have no shame."

Those sentences echoed in his mind and he turned even more embarrassed. That was the reason why he disliked when Mika went into drama queen mode. He got sucked into it way too easily and as a natural-born drama queen, he entered his character way too quickly.

"Let's go, Mika," he managed to say, though his voice came out as slightly muffled from the hands over his mouth. With these words, he didn't even spare his friend another glance, speedily walking away from the small crowd and Maji Burger. No way was he eating there, not with the people who saw them around.

Ryota dumbly stared at his friend before his face broke in a smile. He dusted his pants off, casually standing up as if he wasn't dramatically laying on the ground a few seconds ago. In the crowd he heard some gasps as people got a closer look at his face— Ah, maybe some people recognized him.

The green head didn't miss a beat. He gave an exaggerated curtsy, similar to the one Mukuro gave him on their first meeting before beaming at the crowd with one of his famed plastic grins. "Thank you for your attention, I hope you all enjoyed the show," he began. "This play was created after some teen movie we saw on TV last weekend," he advertised before waving at the crowd and dashing out of it, not forgetting to wink and blow kisses at some fans and sign a few magazines on the way.

It didn't take long for Ryota to flee from the crowd, he wasn't as much of a flirt as before, his past relationship had tamed him quite a lot. Spotting the still blushing raven head, he laughed. "Aww, is Juncchi being shy?" he teased with a smirk.

Junichiro's face flushed harder, he hit the boy's arm, mumbling a quiet shut up before walking further away. "Hurry I'm hungry, and no, we ain't going to Maji Burger. Not after that!"

"Whatever you say Juncchi, so long as we are on time for the street basketball match," Ryota easily conceded, an amused smile painted on his lips.

Jun sighed, he rolled his neck as his blush receded before turning to face Mikaël. "There's nothing to eat there?" he curiously asked. "I mean, it would be surprising if that were the case," he added with a small frown.

Ryota hummed at the raven's words, pulling out his phone he scrolled his contact list to one of his beloved Juniors. Unhesitantly he clicked on it and began to type a text— calling now was an option, but Ryota didn't want to take it.

"Wait a sec', I'm sending Tetsuyacchi a text to ask him," he said, answering the raven's question as he typed away.

Jun nodded with a hum. His feets easily following the green's long strides toward the basketball court— he didn't have much choice, he didn't know where it took place. "Say," he absentmindedly called out, eliciting a hum from the green head who stared at his phone. "Who's going to be there already?"

Ryota closed his eyes, racking his brains for information his past self detained and what the blue head told him. "Well, there should be Tetsuyacchi and some of his teammates," he mused before pausing as his phone vibrated. "They sell sandwiches near the courts—"

"Then let's eat there, it'll be faster and easier," Jun proposed.

Ryota nodded before picking up from where he left. "Then, if my memory serves me right there should be another one of my old underclassmen," he added in a drawl, seeming a bit unsure. "I'm sure it's not Ryota-kun—" after all, he didn't go in his former life, "and I don't think it's Seicchi either," he muttered.

Jun skeptically looked at Mikaël before patting his shoulder. "Don't tire yourself with that man, I don't care, we'll see when we arrive," he reassured with a grin before humming to himself. "But you're not close to your model underclassman— I mean, Ryota's Kise Ryota right? The model?" the raven asked.

Ryota tensed for a second at the question— it is true he kept some distance with Kise Ryota, it felt a bit strange to talk to himself yet not. He sighed before chuckling. "He makes me a bit— uncomfortable?"

Jun gasped, bringing a hand to cover his mouth in fake amazement. "Oh my God!" he exclaimed. "You have to introduce us then, I have— no, I need to meet him!"

"Mou, don't be so mean Juncchi!"

::

A bright golden eye and a slightly paler one harshly glared at the old man in front of them. Thick tension surrounded both Pakhan and Don as the younger of the two released an almost feral growl, a violent blend of orange and crimson coursing through his irises.

"What did you say, Timoteo?" the silvery blond male asked, his voice dangerously low as he kept his hand positioned for his subordinates not to act.

The old man didn't seem the least bit affected by the Russian Boss' pressure. "You heard me, Aleksey, The Fool's information won't be handed over," the Italian Boss repeated.

The boudoir where only the current and future Vongola Don and Guardians and their бриз counterparts were fell into pregnant silence. Both males held eye contact for a few more minutes, their respective subordinates growing tenser by the seconds before the younger of the two scoffed.

His grave face went back to its default poker face and he stood up from his seat, marching to the door with regal steps. "Thank you for your time, Timoteo," Aleksey bade as he let his Rain open the door for him. "I won't forget your kindness," he said.

The Russian's golden gaze swept over every figure before scanning the younger generation. He paused, a flash of laughter passed his eyes as he carefully studied the Japanese teen's face.

"Don't come crying to me when your Famiglia enters War, I won't have time for it."

Timoteo scrunched up his nose, his eyes trailed on the Bratva's back before he released a sigh. Aleksey, when it wame to her, was too emotional. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, dismissing his grandson's worry, he knew бриз would leave the venue before the beginning of the ceremony, Aleksey simply was this stubborn.

Fortunately, he wasn't as much of a child when it mattered.

Although, he frowned. War, his eyes flickered to Yamamoto— the fake created for the ceremony. War did cross his mind when he learned someone attacked the future Rain Guardian, he wouldn't be surprised if the unknown attacker stroke again.

Dun dun dun, Inheritance Ceremony Arc on the way. Mikaël shouldn't take part in it as you can see, instead the next chapters will focus more on the KNB cast and Street Basketball episode as you probably deducted. Expect to see some KNB characters in the next chapters^^

Thanks for reading, until next time^^