The ring looked exactly like it was before, but there's this transparent blue, thing that Ryuuichi spotted after looking at it for a good whole half an hour. He was sure that it wasn't there before. A flashback of the first Arcobaleno Trial ran in his mind and he remembered. The ring was glowing the exact same time Tsuna's Guardians' rings glowed, not to mention that it was a little warm. He frowned at that.

'So does that means it will glow every time Tsuna gets a seal? Why?' No matter how much he tried to figure it out, he just couldn't find the logical answer to it. Things have been a little strange ever since he went to the future courtesy of his older self and it frustrated him to no end. He sighed and ruffled his hair to shake of a fallen leaf.

Speaking of which, why was he here again? 'Ah. Right' He was waiting for a certain pineap- blue haired teen, a prefect and a brunette's appearance, under a tree. He had been here after they went back for the day. He, after all, wanted to witness their fight, even though it would be cut short by the brunette. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, feeling tired and bored. He had nothing to do while waiting for the others but then blinked and groaned aloud. He just remembered that he had a three day span of homework left untouched.

Just thinking of it made him wanting to burn it. Despite the fact that he had really, really, wanted to do it, he wouldn't. More like he couldn't. How he was raised as a child in his past life had him to be obedient, which had him couldn't break a little small rule without overthinking and worrying. Sure, he had broke a few before, but those were when he was absolutely confident that no one would really mind about it.

He groaned again. Still, he dislike it.

Clash!

He turned towards the direction of the sound of metal clashes. It was quite loud before it stopped, followed by a muffled shout. Ryuuichi smirked. They were finally here. He stood up and looked towards where they should be, and did saw them through the spaces between the trees. He crossed his arms and leg while leaning on the tree's bark. He was so going to enjoy it.

He laughed when men in black suits and helmet surrounded Hibari and Mukuro before attacking them. They clearly do not know the two's strength. And as Ryuuichi had knew, they were all defeated by the two in just merely seconds. After that, Ken and Chikusa came out. 

The two and Mukuro had a little small talk before he, chased by Hibari, ran towards the forest to continue their fight. Ryuuichi blinked and eyes widen. Was if just him or were they getting closer and closer towards him. '' He quickly moved out of his place and away from the two as they begun to fight, both aware of his presence.

Hibari did knew that the teen was present, but didn't know why. But, now all he could think was on getting revenge. Mukuro, too, was well aware of him. After all, Ryuuichi was one of the people that interest him and there were only a handful of them which Mukuro deemed so. Also, he knew that the prefect was interested by him too, if not, attached seeing the fact that he had frowned upon sight.

He chuckled and dodged the incoming tonfa. "How unexpected for you to be concerned about someone" He smirked when Hibari's eyes narrowed. "He does interest me too. Can I steal him away from you?" He raised his trident just in time before the metal weapon hit his face. His lips tugged into a smirk.

Hibari growled at that. He wasn't stupid enough to fall for the taunts but he knew that he would do it if he wanted to, and Hibari do not want him to. No one, not even Satan, can take Ryuuichi out of his sight. Anyone who does that shall be bitten to death and get a bloody torture from him. "No" He snarled and deliver a harder blow. 

Ryuuichi, on the other hand, had all his attention on the fight in hand. He was standing by the side, away from those two blood thirsty teens. He raised an eyebrow when he saw their lips moving and that somehow Hibari was enraged. He huffed, knew that Mukuro had said something that angered the prefect. He tensed up again at the howl of a giant Octopus and moved away quickly. 

A few seconds after he had moved away, the creature was thrown towards where he was standing just now. The long tentacles fell limp from it and one of it almost squished him. He gave a shaky laugh and sighed in relief. He looked towards the two that were still fighting. Just as they were about to deliver another attack, Tsuna who was in Hyper Dying Mode flew down and stood in between them, hands raised to each of their faces.

"Stop" They backed up, impressed. Tsuna went out of it and tried to persuade them to stop fighting. "Please stop, Hibari-san, Mukuro! I don't know why you two are here nor why you were fighting... However, there's no reason for you to fight now. You guys were actually set up here" He struggled.

"I knew that" Hibari said, surprising the brunette. "Did you think I'd be fooled by that illusion? It came from an illusionist I'd already seen through before" Mukuro added. Tsuna frowned. "Then, is it Mammon?"

"I thought it might be amusing to go along with their plan. Vindice Prison is terribly boring." An image of a cuffed and chained up Mukuro in a tank flashed through his mind. He then remembered that the bluenette's still in the prison. "However, I became truly entertained as I fought against him. The same would apply to him." He glanced at Hibari before turning back to the other teen. 

"It is not interesting! Because.. Because you.." A grim look fell onto Mukuro's face despite him smirking as usual. "Yes, I know that. I pushed Chrome a little too hard" His peered towards Ryuuichi, whom was frowning at him. To Mukuro, it was as if Ryuuichi was displeased by that. Of course he would anyway. Who wouldn't when he overworked Chrome? Mukuro wanted to laugh at his thoughts but he couldn't help but hoped that Ryuuichi would do otherwise.

Unknown to him, Ryuuichi was frowning at him out of concern. Not just to Chrome, but also to Mukuro. He knew that the teen wouldn't be released from prison til, well, Shimon's arrival but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to break him out. He does and still do. Although the teen was arrested based on the law, he felt that it was unfair. Mukuro had went through a lot. Same goes to Ken and Chikusa, and other unnamed children. They were all experimented, tested, toyed and tortured as a child. Blood and tears shed for who knows how long of torture. 

True, Mukuro had killed most of them, but those that managed to ran away weren't. And he was arrested and chained in prison. For killing killers who all killed more of those innocent children. Those killers? They had it easy. Died in just matter of seconds. No torture at all.

Ryuuichi clenched his fist for a few moments before releasing them. He slowly blinked to Mukuro before the teen disappeared and Chrome appeared. Ken and Chikusa arrived and demanded for Mukuro. He glanced back towards the other side and smirked when he saw Reborn and the other Arcobaleno.

Tsuna had pass the second Trial, the test of Charisma had ended. 

He continued his track, not bothering to stay and watch the brunette receiving his seal. Just as he was about to run towards Hibari whom just stepped out of the gate, the ring around his neck glowed in purple and was warm. He sighed, knowing that he was right about it glowing whenever Tsuna passes a Trial. Though, he still doesn't understand why it would glow. He shook the incoming headache and ran.

It doesn't matter anyway. As long as he knew that he was getting closer.

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Ryuuichi quickly cover his mouth and nose when he suddenly sneezed. Briefly, he wondered if he was getting a flu or something, but he doubt it. He had been sneezing ever since he was out of his house and promptly had a shock when the mist was so thick that it could be easily mistaken as haze if not for the cold atmosphere around him. Though, something strange about it was that it has this distant smell. It doesn't smell like smoke, nor was it dust. 

'Mist....' Then it clicked. 'Mammon' To be honest, he thought that it was Mukuro's doing at first but he remembered about the Trial, this, that and blah blah blah. If there's anyone who could make such thing, it would definitely be either Mukuro or Mammon, or a few others but he doubt that they would be bothered to do something like this for no reason at all.

As he reached a four junction, he squinted his eyes and could barely make out figures. When he was closer, he saw Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto and Ryohei. They had all received a call from the Mist Arcobaleno, but didn't knew about that. As for Ryuuichi, well, let's just say that his guts told him to get out of the house instead of rotting inside and staring at his laptop the whole day. Despite his reluctance, he forced himself out as he couldn't even concentrate of whatever he was doing with the feeling nagging him.

He silently sneaked up on Tsuna and slung a hand over his shoulder. "Yo~" The poor brunette shrieked his infamous yelp and jumped. He snickered at the other's bewildered face even though they had returned their greetings. Just as Tsuna was about to question his appearance, a familiar voice was heard.

They all turned towards the source and saw a certain Arcobaleno appeared out of thin air. 

"Hello. It's been a while" Ryuuichi gave him a smirk and pulled away from the brunette. "Next up is Mammon's Trial?" Tsuna questioned in which Mammon confirmed it. "I'm not interested in doing stuff that doesn't make cash, but as an Arcobaleno I don't get a choice"

Gokudera retorted and demanded for him to just give them their seal. Ryuuichi sweated but raised his eyes when a image of a caged Kyoko appeared. To the others, it looked real. Tsuna eyes were wide as Ryohei demanded an explanation. To Ryuuichi, well, it looked faked. So faked as he felt like puking at it. Somehow, he was always able to decipher something that was real, and something that was not. He had been able to do that ever since he was a she.

Putting that aside, the image disappeared. "Hold on. No funny business. Or who knows what might happen to her." Tsuna clenched his hands on his gloves and pills, but lowered them. "If you want to save her, you'll have to clear my trial." Ryohei was cussing himself for letting Kyoko go out this morning. If only he hadn't..

And then, Tsuna too had blamed himself. Ryuuichi rolled his eyes at the self blaming session. Even Reborn had found it pathetic. "Just get out here and save her" 

"But... This isn't fair! Aren't you an Arcobaleno too? You could at least tell Mammon to let Kyoko-chan go"

"You don't seem to get how this works" "Reborn has his own trial to administer" Lal Mirch then added. "And I'm a 100% neutral party" 

"You have to overcome this by yourselves. That's what makes it a trial"

That, had triggered them. They decided to pass this trial by the rules and save Kyoko. As they were declaring it to Mammon, Ryuuichi sneezed again. He muttered an apology but was cut off by his another sneeze. "Ryuuichi? Are you alright?" He heard Tsuna's voice tinted with concern. 

"I'm fine- Achoo!" He cussed under his breathe. The damn distant smell was getting him and it annoys him to no end. He certainly do not enjoy sneezing the whole time. Mammon raised an eyebrow that wasn't visible to anyone. The teen doesn't look sick to him, nor he actually was. 'Could it be my illusions?' He threw that thought away. There's no way his illusions would create any other causes than mental trauma and motion sickness. 

"Let's start. My trial is a test of adaptability. I'll be asking you a number of difficult questions. If you can solve them, you'll reach Sasagawa Kyoko" Tsuna felt a little relief seeing that they have Ryuuichi. The teen who noticed that immediately shot it down. "One thing. I won't participate" 

Dread filled the brunette. 

"Here's the first question" Mammon said. "Where does a pig sleep?" Ryuuichi gave the arcobaleno a slight deadpanned look for some reason. "Ah that's right. I forgot. You're getting in the way, Hayato" He was impressed when Mammon turned into Bianchi. Even the voice sounded the same. As expected, the bomber's stomach groaned and he was down. "This trial will be taken by Sawada Tsunayoshi, Yamamoto Takeshi and Sasagawa Ryohei. All others will be forced to leave. That includes you, Shiroki Ryuuichi"  

Ryuuichi sighed and shook his head. "I'll bring him to your house, Tsuna." He crouched down, slung an arm over Gokudera and hoisted him up. He eyed the arcobaleno amusingly as a smirk formed on his lips. "Don't worry. I have no intention on doing that" 'As if I needed to anyway' He knew that Mammon could literally hear the last unspoken part seeing that the arcobaleno twitched a little. 

Mammon was unnerved by the teen. (And he really wanted to wipe that smirk out of that face) Although they never really knew each other, or even talk as the matter of fact, he knew one crucial thing about him. 

He isn't someone simple.

"Well, I'll be waiting at the solution" 

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"Arara? Hello Ryuuichi-kun. What's wrong with Gokudera-kun?" 

"Hello, Nana-san. I'm sorry to disturb you. Well, he fell asleep due to fatigue." He smiled sheepishly and if he wasn't holding onto Gokudera, he would have rubbed the back of his neck. The ever so oblivious Nana giggled at little and had believed it. Sometimes, Ryuuichi wonder how could this woman be so dense. She made way for him to get in. "I'm sorry for intruding" He muttered and worked on their shoes. 

"I'll place him in Tsuna's room" He then carried Gokudera up the stairs slowly, keeping a firm grip around him so that he won't fall off. He huffed and rolled his shoulders, feeling satisfied among hearing the cracks. He sighed as he sat beside the bed Indian style. He looked Gokudera and smiled softly. The bomber looked rather cute when he was asleep.

He softly his head, pushing a strain of hair out of his face and chuckled when Gokudera frowned a little before relaxing. He was leaning towards his hand, even. "Dr...ake.." His eyes soften at that.

To be told the truth, he had felt their relationship a little strained these few days. Ever since the bomber, and the others, knew the truth about Shoichi, he was a little guarded up on Ryuuichi. Ryuuichi knew that it would happen. It was expected after all. He knew it, yet he didn't do anything. It wasn't because that he didn't care or he was too lazy, no. It was because that even if he had done something, it won't change the fact that he would be still hiding something.

And the others would know it. Unless he was to tell them, they wouldn't trust him fully. But of course, he wouldn't. Not now.

The sound of the door clicked open cut him off of his musing. It was Nana carrying a tray with a cup of water on it. He immediately sat straighter, nodding and thanking the woman when she gave him the cup. Nana smiled at him and sat down in front of him, the tray on her lap. He blinked in surprised an confusion. 

The awkward feeling slowly crept up on him as they sat in silence with Nana observing him with sharp eyes that he never realized the woman have. He sweated and looked to the other side of the room, sipping on the water. "Ryuuichi-kun.." He tensed up when the woman spoke.

"Thank you for always be there for my son." She bowed a little in which the teen panicked. "A-ah no. It's the same towards him- I mean- Um" He stumbled on his words and bowed lower. He rubbed the back of his neck, clearly not used to this. (Unknown to him, his cheeks were a little flushed)

Nana giggled at Ryuuichi's flustered look. For all these times she had met him, this was the first time her seeing the usually calm and collected teen fazed. It was an amusing sight. To her, he looked like a child. Unlike to the others, Ryuuichi had always been dubbed as the 'adult' of the circle courtesy of his matured personality. Though, no matter how Nana looked at him, he looked more like an awkward child trying his best to not let other people know what he has in mind.

Perhaps it's a mother intuition but that's what she felt about him. 

Ryuuichi bit his tongue to stop himself from rambling. He felt like running away right there, right then. It wasn't because he don't like the woman, he does! But he has always been awkward with anyone's parent. Well, people older than him as the matter of fact. He couldn't seem to relax and open up to them unless he had interacted with them for quite a while.

"Umm-!" His eyes widen when he felt a hand on his head, gently patting him. Nana smiled brightly at him. For a few seconds, their eyes met. Ryuuichi felt that Nana had known something but did not dared to ask. She then stopped and stood up. "I'll be downstairs with the children if you need anything, alright?" He nodded shortly, trying to process what happened as she went out of the room.

He sat there for almost 2 minutes. His brain had shut down and was rebooting. He was literally frozen. Suddenly, quite a loud roar was heard, jolting him out of his dazed state. He looked down from the window and saw Tsuna, Yamamoto and Ryohei, and an aligator. He then finally remembered about the trial.

'Right. I need to go there...'

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Guess where Ryuuichi was now. 

On top of the Shrine's roof. How did he get up there was a mystery. (At the back of his mind, he apologized to whoever lives in the shrine) Ah right. Reborn and Lal Mirch. Apparently, Mammon's star fish was destroyed by Ryohei and Yamamoto and he was somewhat 'in the way' as the two arcobaleno has said, which they had promptly dragged him up onto the roof to avoid the pieces flying about with a strength that Ryuuichi rather no know about. 

He sat in front of Tsuna and behind of the arcobaleno as Mammon deemed him worthy. For some reason, he felt that Mammon had wanted to play with them a little while longer upon hearing the disappointed tone in his voice. "Now, hold out your ring"

The brunette did as told and a ray of indigo light was shot from Mammon's pacifier to his Vongola ring. It started to glow, the others' too. Ryuuichi knew his had glowed too. There's no doubt about it.

He tuned out the moment Mammon was explaining about the box weapon he received from Verde and such when his nose started to itched a little. A little while after that, he sneezed, making them all looking at him. Reborn jumped onto his shoulder and placed a hand on his forehead. 

Reborn was not surprised when the teen's forehead was warm. He had showed symptons after all. "You caught a flu, Ryuuichi" The said teen groaned in annoyance. 

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A/N = HELLOOO! I'm sorry that I haven't been updating. I haven't finish my exams yet but I managed to find time seeing that I wasn't in the mood to study right now and the fact that I had finished the hard ones. Well, not exactly.

Here's an extra part which I couldn't find anywhere to put it

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-Extra-

"Hello, Ryuuichi-kun~" An arm suddenly wrapped around his waist and he was pulled towards a certain blunette's chest. A hand grabbed his chin and had tilted upwards. Ryuuichi's eyes widen in shock. He immediately struggled to get out of his hold. "He...llo to you too Mukuro- Lemme go!!" It was a futile attempt as the older teen was much stronger. 

Mukuro chuckled, amusement dripped heavily. "Why?" He leaned closer towards his face, gap shrunk into merely a few inches. He found it adorable when Ryuuichi's face turned red and he avoided his eyes. "Cute~" 

"I-I'm not cute! Let me go right now!" Oh Ryuuichi was sure that his face were flushed. Mukuro was too close and he could literally feel the hot breathe on his face. He struggled even harder, pushing the blunette away.

Suddenly, another arm had wound itself around his waist and pulled him back. A certain metal weapon had swung towards Mukuro, in which the latter immediately let go of Ryuuichi so that he could jump back and avoid the blow. Ryuuichi's back hitted another chest and he looked up, to find a furious looking Hibari.

Hibari growled at the pineap- the smirking teen, tightening his hold on Ryuuichi. "Herbivore...." Yep. Definitely furious. He's so going to bite the pin- blunette to death and he would certainly bring him back to live so he could bite him to death again. 

"Kufufufufu~ That's rude, skylark-kun~" Mukuro's heterochromatic eyes glinted menacingly, but Ryuuichi could literally see him laughing like a madman inside. The two blood thirsty teen glared at each other so hard that he was sure that there were sparks flying about. 

Him, on the other hand, were trying hard to get out of Hibari's vice grip but stopped when Mukuro simply stride towards them. He watched the teen in confusion. Did Mukuro want to die? Hibari growled once more, his already very tight hold, if possible, got tighter. (Ryuuichi winced internally. He was going to get a bruise for all he know)

"Well then, I need to go now. See you soon, Ryuuichi-kun~" The said teen frozen when a pair of lips made contact on his forehead before Mukuro dispersed into Mist. He simply stared into spaces for a while, trying to process what had happen.

Hibari snarled and swung his tonfa down only to hit the mist. Make that biting him to death into thrice. When he's sure that Mukuro had fully disappeared, he turned towards the dazed teen in his arm. He hated the fact that Mukuro had kiss him (even though it was on the forehead). That thought had him scowling.

He leaned down towards the exposed neck and had promptly bit down. Hard. Ryuuichi immediately came back to earth at the pain and yelped. "Ow!!" He jumped away from the loosen grasp and a hand flew up to cover the bitten part as he gave Hibari a dumbfounded and disbelief look. Hibari, if anything, looked smug and smirked. He sauntered towards the teen. 

Ryuuichi stepped back when the prefect got closer. He was so going to run away if Hibari did anything. But to his utter surprise, a hand briefly brushed his head and Hibari had past by him, walking away as if nothing just happened. He stood there with only one thing in his mind.

'What the exact hell has happened?!?!?!'

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A/N = *laughs* I hope you guys enjoyed that part!

Fun Fact= Ryuuichi was forced to rest by Reborn and almost choked on a medicine when the arcobaleno forced it into his mouth. Though, he was recovered the next morning, thanks to his high immune system.

[I apologize for any grammar, spelling, etc.etc. mistakes]