"If I were to betray you, will you still believe me?"

"..... Perhaps I wouldn't. But I believe that you would have a reason so yes. I will"

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Ryuuichi woke up to darkness, once again. 'What in the world-' His eyes widen as he hastily looked around. He was once again floating in darkness, in void. He suppressed a shudder that was about to ran up his skin. "No-" He suddenly heard a voice and whipped his head towards that direction, but still, there was nothing. 

"Please.. No.."

He frowned. There was absolutely nothing and he was alone, for sure. Then there was that ear piercing scream. He hurriedly covered his ears and winced at that. The scream didn't stop. Pleads were said, begged continuously. He closed his eyes tightly as he felt a headache coming. 'Goddammit-' 

"Ryuuichi!!" He snapped his eyes open, finally seeing something. He sat up and winced a little at the slight pain. He looked at his surrounding, recognizing his room. He looked to a certain infant, who perhaps was the one whom had woke him up and was about to say something when he realized that he was panting. That, and he was sweating profusely. 

Reborn had slept over at Ryuuichi's for the night as his trial was next. Perhaps it was to give Tsuna space for the upcoming challenge but he had the urge to stay out of the Sawadas' house that night and something told him to stay with Ryuuichi. The teen was a little surprised, but invited him nonetheless. He had slept with him in his room, with Reborn on his hammock that he took out of nowhere.

They were sleeping soundly when the teen started turning over here and there in the middle of the night. Reborn, being the ever so light sleeper, was awaken by that and had found Ryuuichi frowning so hard that it looked painful. He had jumped down onto his bed and touched his cheek only to retract it immediately. The teen's skin was very cold. He felt a twinge of worry (Ok maybe a lot) for the teen, who seemed to be having a nightmare.

He had tried to wake him up to no avail until his eyes suddenly opened. Those brown orbs were narrowed, and confused as Ryuuichi sat up and looked around, hair tousled. Reborn waited til the teen's haziness cleared before asking if he was alright. He said nothing else when he nodded and jumped to the wardrobe and plucked out a set of fresh clothes for him. 

"Go wash up first and straight to the kitchen" Another nod was his answer before Ryuuichi took the clothes out of his hand and walked to the bathroom. Reborn walked to the kitchen and prepared a cup of tea for him seeing that Ryuuichi doesn't look like he will be going back to sleep. Well, it was fine anyway, since it was almost 5 in the morning.

Reborn found it quite astonishing to see the usually calm and collected teen this shaken and unnerved, but he didn't want to see him like that again. Reborn didn't know why, but he definitely do not want it to happen again. 

Ryuuichi leaned on the bathroom wall, covering his eyes and groaned. This was the first time him having nightmare to the point that he would sweat. He stripped out of his clothes and when into the shower, sighing in relief as the water washing away the stickiness. He wondered what was that dream about. Yet, then again, it doesn't felt like a dream. It felt so real despite the fact that he was simply in darkness. He sighed again, pushing that away seeing that he might get another headache if he think about it longer. He peered through his bang to the sink, where his ring was placed. 

The ring glinted a little.

Reborn looked up when Ryuuichi had walked in and sat on the chair. He pushed the cup of tea to him, ushering him to drink it up. Ryuuichi muttered a thank you and sipped the warm beverage. They sat in silence until Ryuuichi place the half empty cup on the table.

"... Do you want to talk about it?" The Arcobaleno wasn't going to force the teen to say it if he doesn't want to. He felt that the dream might be something private to Ryuuichi and he respect his privacy. But, Ryuuichi shrugged. "Sure.. I don't mind..." 

"Well... It wasn't really a dream... I don't know.." Reborn raised an eyebrow.

"I was in darkness. I can't see anything at all but there were screams. Someone was pleading for whatever was happening to stop or whatsoever..." Ryuuichi frowned and continued. "But it felt horrible"

He didn't understand why, but it felt heart-tearing. Especially the scream. It wasn't like what Tsuna saw during his meeting with the Vongola's bosses. It was more, personal. What Tsuna saw was what happened in the pass after Secondo has took over, that was fights and wars started and conducted by someone else. But what Ryuuichi had heard, it was as if he was the one who was screaming. 

Though, Ryuuichi didn't recall any painful moments through his life as a he, and a she.

Reborn could see the confusion in his eyes. Maybe Ryuuichi had covered up the memories out of pain? Then again, it wasn't possible, given the teen's personality. Besides, he have a very strong mind.

Reborn nodded at the answer as comfortable silence took over again. For now, he could only stay by him side as a support.

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"Hello Aria-san" Ryuuichi greeted, surprising the Sky Arcobaleno who was standing behind a tree, looking at the brunette and his guardians' arrival. "Ryuuichi-kun? Since when you are here?" He gave a small smile and leaned against another tree, casting glances to the others before closing his eyes.

"Since the beginning" He cracked an eye open to see the woman's worried face. He chuckled. "Don't worry, Aria-san. Everything will be just fine. Though," He looked serious. "I had been wondering why you did that yesterday.." He meant by the flame thing on his forehead. He was already having a headache on why Vongola Primo did that on their meeting but having the Sky Arcobaleno doing that too? Double headache.  

Aria hummed. "Well, a certain someone asked me to" Ryuuichi frowned. "Then you knew about my memories?" He frowned harder when she shook her head. 

"I don't know anything about you." 

The teen was about to say something else when the sound of the impact from the brunette when he hit the boulder, which had rendered him unconscious. '.......' Well, once again, he won't get his answer. Damn.

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As expected, they had failed the Trial. They were no match for Reborn, even after Tsuna was given a chance to defeat him. Although to the brunette, Reborn was a devil-spawn-torturer-tutor, but he was still someone important to him. Reborn was the one who changed his life. Reborn was the one who had pushed him when he almost gave up. Despite all the painful times, Reborn was the one who showed him his destiny. So, how can he do that to him? How can Tsuna hurt him even if it was simply a Trial?

No, he can't.

Reborn, on the other hand, pushed back the pain in his heart. He shouldn't even be feeling it. He is a ruthless, heartless person, so he shouldn't even feel worried for his student. But, he too knew that he couldn't. Tsuna wasn't like Dino, Tsuna was more than a merely student of his. Reborn knew that. The brunette had somehow crafted a place in his heart, like how Luce did. He hadn't want to fight with his student, but he knew he couldn't. No one is to run away from a trial. No, especially a trial.

Memories of the day when they became Arcobaleno had played in his mind. The damned moment. None of them were able to accept it when they were cursed into infant sized, except for Luce. She had foreseen it. She knew about her fate, and theirs' too. Despite being pregnant and all, she hadn't done anything to deter it. That was one thing that Reborn hadn't know why. 

Ryuuichi sighed. He could literally feel the sad aura from them, despite one of them being very far away at the moment and another one hid it very well. He had followed the Sun and Sky Arcobaleno to Namimori Shrine, where the rest except from Verde would gather. He was annoyed by that yet he couldn't say or do anything about it. It wasn't his matter, which meant that he shouldn't be minding their business, but he was a little worried. They are considered his friends after all. And yes, Reborn is considered his friend, mind you.

He doesn't like seeing people whom he cares about sad. 

As they were discussing, Ryuuichi had zoned out and yawned. He had actually wanted to stay with Tsuna and the others but Reborn had somewhat dragged him along. 

"Pardon my language but that Lightning Arcobaleno's Trial would be the tiest, if I would say" He widen his eyes and covered his mouth. "Opps" Reborn and the other narrowed their eyes at him as he looked away. He sweated at the stares that were boring holes. Damn he shouldn't have let that slip. Perhaps he was too tired. Damn the dream. 

They stared at him for almost three full minutes before Reborn turned away from him, which the rest followed. He sighed inaudibly in relief. "We'll just have to see about that" The Sun Arcobaleno said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Ryuuichi looked up to the sky and saw Pawn-looking machines along with Lightning Flame coated Starfish towards them. 'It's starting...' Tsuna and the others had begun fighting those machine. Ryohei and Yamamoto were still injured from Reborn's Trial and having to fight right after resting for half a day? Not a good thing.

He quickly jumped away when one of the machines from those whom Tsuna had missed rushed towards where he was. He stood there staring at the broken and smoking machine, wondering if he were to destroy it, would Verde get his flames reading? 'Right. I'm not going to attack any of it' He wasn't going to risk it after all. Having targeted by Verde is a pain in the so no thank you. 

That, and the rest of his flames are suppose to be a secret until he decided to show it, which won't be so soon. Probably when they meet the White Marshmallow freak.

Then, they heard Verde's laughter. A submarine suddenly appeared and Verde came out of it. "Bearer of the Vongola Rings, are you enjoying this?" Ryuuichi muttered a 'nerd' under his breathe. He never really liked Verde for various reasons. That damn guy would do anything to get what he wants, especially if it was related to his experiments and researches. He would say that he's mad- well, he is mad. Verde's a mad Scientist. Yep. 

Well, at least Tsuna and the others would kick his .

And yep. He was going to break the Arcobaleno pact. Great.

Reborn was enraged by that. He walked forward with Leon changed into a gun in his hand. "This is no longer a Trial. Verde has broken the pact. Let's move out!"

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Things had became worse. The Arcobaleno were captured courtesy of the Tri-Ni-Sette, Tsuna and the others' flames were away and they were losing. But it didn't fazed Ryuuichi. He simply sat on one of the boulders, watching things unfolded with a bored face. He did, however, moved when a few of Verde's creation almost hit him.

He waited silently by the side as they fought. His lips slowly tugged upward when Tsuna's, shortly followed by the others' resolve flared, their Dying Will Flames recharged. Easily, the beat each of Verde's creation to the ground. Even when the captured Arcobaleno were blown up one by one, his smile were still there. Although Verde is a genius, he is indeed an idiot for underestimating them. 

They weren't blown up. In fact, they weren't even captured. Mammon had casted an illusion on them right after he had saw the glitter from the round machine. Annoyed, irritated and angered, they destroy, literally, the rest of the creatures. Aria had appeared after that. 

Somehow, Lambo was thrown to the submarine and was out of it. (How, Ryuuichi couldn't remember because he had zoned out.) When Verde had made his move, Electrico Thunder, he quickly shield himself with a cloud flame shield around him. The rest, on the other hand, got electric shocked. The unconscious Lambo had woken up to it and was weirdly moving, or dancing, at the shock. Because the child was specialized in electrical shocks and all, he wasn't that much affected unlike the others. And, Lambo got mad.

Being him, Lambo threw bunch of Grenedes around him and Verde, which ended up disrupting Verde. His Electrico Thunder was cut off and Tsuna had destroyed him with X-Burner. At that moment, the Pawn-like machine that Verde shot towards the brunette was shot down by Reborn's Chaos Shot. (Ryuuichi whistled and clapped, impressed by that and was awe he managed to see it personally. That, and because the two got along again) End of story. Not. That was a robot. 

They moved to a small island, called Bumpy Rock by Gokudera (Why, Ryuuichi doesn't know) where Verde's research lab was. There was a long boring talk between them but Tsuna cleared his trial anyway. The Trial of Intuition. Their rings glowed right after Verde had given his seal and Ryuuichi was sure his glowed too. Right now, there's only Reborn's seal left. Well, not that Ryuuichi was worried. 

Right after that, Verde and his crocodile disappeared into this hole and the lab began to shake. That damned Arcobaleno had wanted to blast them along with the lab. They quickly ran back to the shore and just in time because the small island had crumbled down. Tsuna and the others plead for a second chance on Reborn's Trial, and had bowed. 

"It's not necessary. You've passed my Trial. I asked if you were prepared to do whatever it takes as a boss to protect everyone. You showed me the answer in the fight with Verde. That's why you've passed my Trial"

All's well, ends well.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Not really. The night before they went back to the future, Ryuuichi had that dream again. He was yet again in the same darkness, where there were the screams. This time, it was much louder that he got a major headache. Somehow, he managed to wake himself up.

"No!!!"

He snapped open his eyes, barely realizing that he was panting and sweating again. He looked around and sighed in relief that he was actually in his room. He sat up, a hand covering his eyes as he took deep breathes to calm his breathing. Yep, no doubt it still felt horrible. Actually, it was 'the world is ending and let's run away from hot burning lava which could burn you alive' feeling. Ok not really. He was exaggerating, obviously. But still, it didn't feel good at all.

'And two nights? Man someone must be messing with me...' He peeked to the clock on his table and groaned. It was only 3 in the morning. They still have about 4 to 5 hours before they need to go. If this keeps up, he had no doubt that he would get insomnia one day. It doesn't looked like he can sleep now that he's wide awake. He huffed in frustration but went to his laptop and started it up.

As he was waiting, he took out the ring from his shirt. As he had thought that it wasn't a trick of light, there were a little rainbow lining by the gap but the middle was still empty. He seriously had no idea why it was there, and how. It was there ever since Reborn had given the brunette their seal. And he just found out that it became a rainbow like lining when he was eating dinner and was bored. That, and Aria. Oh bless her soul yet don't because he had a hunch that the dreams were caused by the flame-on-his-forehead-thing. Maybe he should go and find her for this...

He perked up when there was a ding from his laptop and it was a mail from Sakura and Kei. They were asking for he and his brother's well being and such. That had him smiling and felt warm. Well, might as well take his mind away from all this head slamming things and reply the mail, and perhaps watch a few movies.

Unknown to him, the ring had glowed a little after he had taken his eyes away from it.

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A/N = The last chapter for the Arcobaleno Trial Arc, and by far the most boring one. Well, minus the the first and last part I guess. The next chapter will be Choice Arc and well, things will happen. Things. 

The part about the betraying thing, well, I just put there for no reason. I can't remember why I had it there so yeah. 

Whoever told Aria to do that will be revealed. Soon. Not now. Soon. I can't say XP.

Ryuuichi and Reborn had went to Namimori Island right after the teen got himself together. 

Implied R27~ Unless someone wants the ship to really happens, I'll place it as Parental!R27. I didn't elaborated much on both Reborn and Verde's because, well, I don't find the joy and mood in rewriting it and I was lazy to. And Verde's? Well, yeah I don't really like him. NO OFFENSE TO HIS FANS.

AND YES THIS CHAPTER IS SHORT *dies*

I didn't even hit 3k words Booooo...

Ah right, about the nightmare thing, that'll be revealed somewhere in the Future Final Battle Arc. And Ryuuichi won't be getting them right after they go back to the future so don't worry.

[I apologize for any spellings, grammars, etc.etc. mistakes]