{Varia headquarter, Italy}

Eyes closed, the cloud remained unmoving on his bed, his ears twitching ever so slightly every time his alarm clock ticked the passing seconds. Rays of sunlight threaded through his half-opened velvety curtains, the door to the bathroom being ajar, perhaps from the late shower the guardian had the other night.

The raven's brows furrowed themselves, his previously peaceful figure seemingly more agitated as a thin layer of sweat started to cover his body. He felt hot, uncomfortable, bothered. The repression of his worries and thoughts about the future had accumulated more than he could have thought and it was starting to show on his body as his mind, which retained these emotions from flowing, slowly withered.

The human psyche could only do this much. It protected us from our darkest desires and pulsions, helped us avoid stepping over the line by unabling us from even thinking about it, contained our dilemma and trauma by erasing and repressing them. Truly a beautiful instrument.

Purple eyes forcefully shot open as ragged breathing started to echo in the calm bedroom. Again, the raven dreaded, how many time had he woken up already? The same dream, repeating itself like a broken cassette, throughout the night without respite. It frustrated him and unnerved him at the same time.

It frustrated him since he couldn't remember what his dream was about, not even a blurry image of it remained when he woke up. It was as if it got entirely erased every time he woke up and reset as he fell asleep once more. He was blind to his mind's struggle.

It unnerved him not to know. Not to have a hint to hold onto and unconsciously feel at ease. What was it that lurked in the shadow of his consciousness? What was it that could have such significant effects on his behavior without him knowing what it was?

Heaving a sigh the guardian in probation leaned against his bed board. He needed to get away from it, from everything that linked him to those dreams. As his left hand passed through his raven looks he narrowed his purple eyes pensively. To begin with, he didn't have any insomniac's symptoms before. They only showed up last night after his brief talk with the Boss and light meal.

Therefore, if he followed the lead the way he learned with psychoanalysis his "trauma" lied with his memories of the future. Perhaps, getting some distance from everything would do him good. To take a step back and look at his situation as a whole, those linked to his memories weren't unknown and if the problem lied with them, either staying or getting away were his sole solutions.

For the time being, it was impossible for the cloud to, directly confront his fellow officers. The scars left from his future self's unclear betrayal was fresh, to face them now would only add salt to injury. Then, taking some time off and away from them was his only viable option. But to get out, wouldn't they perceive it as a betrayal?

He heaved another sigh, his stomach grumbling in perfectly odd sync. Instead of thinking about it on an empty stomach, he was better off going to eat a light breakfast. Taking a shower was another pleasant idea.

::

"Passport, hair dye, contact lenses..." Yucca trailed off as he went over his black duffle bag. His hand ghosting over every item as his other held his phone on which was the latest news issue in Italy. Some pointless politics and baseless rumors about some reality show rising star.

Not too far from him, sitting on his desk was a neatly folded black letter. Zipping his bag close, the raven slung it over his shoulder before grabbing the note and putting it in his inner coat's pocket. His other hand reached for his black shades before grabbing some gum and throwing it in his mouth.

His free hand reached for his room key, on his bedside table, as he opened the door, swiftly locking it and slipping the key in his breast pocket. Now to the Boss, Yucca mused with some excitation. His stride swift and confident, he stealthily made his way down the deserted hallway. He needed to hurry, his plane wouldn't wait for him all day.

::

{Tokyo, Japan}

A gloved hand roughly swept trough sweaty black bangs as the male hunched himself over, leaning against a grey colored pole. Urgh, how he wished his motion sickness had disappeared after receiving his future self's vision. His head was buzzing as his glazed purple eyes swam in mild dizziness, a bitter taste in his mouth remained, a souvenir from his flight.

Inhaling and exhaling at a steady pace, he tried to regulate his breathing. His right hand went to take his phone in his pants pocket as his other rummaged through his coat's for a pack of tissue. He needed to look at the time, which he hadn't checked since getting on the plane after his motion sickness kicked in, and he had to wipe his forehead from the sweat that slowly formed on his face.

Early evening, his hotel should be ready to let him check in already he thought convinced. Nodding to himself for appeasement, he straightened his previously frail-looking body. The hand, which previously held tissues now had a pair of black shades which the cloud swiftly put on. As if a switch was turned on, the aura around him changed making him so more imposing and at ease.

This type of demeanor would stop anyone from going over to him but also send a subtle alert to those who worked in the same field as him. They wouldn't come and look for trouble, refrain from involving him and, at worst the pest who thought of themselves as the strongest who get their ass kicked in return. A brilliant plan if he said so himself.

His gloved hand brushed through his raven locks once more before he made his way to the taxi station, his feature holding an unnoticeable stiffness as he readied himself for another rodeo. Hopefully, his pills would be enough to minimize the motion sickness' effect during the drive.

Dark brown pupils trailed behind the tall man's figure before they tilted their head, their black locks falling and covering their eyes. Sitting at one of the airport's café terrace they took a sip of their water glass, the local newspaper in their hand keeping the bottom of their face from being seen. Target spotted.

They reached for their phone.

::

"Much better," Yucca hummed as he stretched. Now wearing clean clothes, his body free of any sweat and his mind clear of its previous dizziness he started his tour of the city. It hadn't been so long since his last stop to Japan. Not taking his future self's stay into account, the last time he came was less than a month ago. The visit being out of pure business of course, as it was for the ring battle which they... Let's not mention it.

He came here to clear his mind, after all, know where he was in life. He shook his head in an attempt to chase those thoughts away, his unruly locks which he had previously smoothed swayed from side to side in perfect sync, accompanying the gesture.

Sighing, he pushed his fake thin and round-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose. His hand which was almost entirely hidden by the oversized turtlenecked shirt he wore revealed a pair of rings at the motion. The energy he had supplied to get out of the Varia without resorting to illegality was enough to sustain him for three months of work, thinking about useless things would only drain him more and defeat the purpose of his come.

Mentally slapping his cheek, he scolded himself, think positive, positive. Like a mantra, he repeated the sentence over and over again, trying to auto hypnotize himself and get out of this vicious circle his consciousness kept throwing him in. Damn you mind for not ignoring this issue and deeming it worthy of my attention, he mentally cursed.

Immersed in his inner debate, Yucca failed to notice the familiar blonde mop on his right. It only lasted a second, if not less, but had he been more aware of his surroundings and had he kept his guard as up as it should be, the moment wouldn't have gone unnoticed. As their hand brushed against one another, Yucca went to the nearest cafe terrace.

The long-haired girl staring at her phone excitedly. Her school uniform, which consisted of a grey skirt and beige cardigan complimented her blue eyes, making them and her hair color stand out more. To dye her hair when she has yet to get out of Junior High. It was reasonable to assume she loitered with delinquent and petty tricksters in her free time.

::

"What will you have sir?" A teen, most probably a part-timer asked as Yucca read through the district's newspaper.

The raven didn't take his eyes off of the paper, curtly answering with "an expresso," he didn't bother acknowledging the male, too occupied by the article he was reading. It wasn't anything about political or economic affairs, much less about geopolitics, philosophy or anything of the like. The paper was after all only district centered. The article was much more trivial, had it not been about this particular place Yucca's eyes wouldn't have graced the feature, only sweep over the title and never allowed him to buy the paper.

But for it to be about such a nostalgic place, and to have the article do the headline. It was a play of fate, drawing him into buying and reading the newspaper as if it was some rare relic. Had he not been the one reading it so attentively, the raven would have scoffed at whoever did.

"Will this be all, sir?" A raven asked the brown-haired customer, a polite smile etched on his face as his hand skilfully wrote down the other's order. A glass of water with a cup of decaf.

The client nodded, briefly glancing at the male their eyes momentarily paused on the name tag, registering it for potential use in the future before smiling. "Please."

As the waiter went to make the customer's decaffeinated coffee, he remembered the leather-covered notepad they had on their table. The cover, a beautiful black had sitting on top of it a fancy looking fountain pen that looked easy and comfortable to use. Sighing in longing and frustration as he put the readied drink on the tray he smiled wryly. Why fantasize about something he couldn't afford? Working was the only way to sustain his family, checking his watch he brought the drinks to the brown-haired customer. He needed to check out soon, students usually came at this time of the day, didn't want anyone catching him at work.

::

A fresh breeze blew on Yucca's face as he wandered from shop to shop. His stop at the café had been most productive, it had entirely cleared his mind, and as if someone else entirely had taken control of the situation he found himself only shaking his head in defeat when he thought about the Varia issue.

He had other things to hold onto if he got taken down by the Varia. He needn't worried about such things when life was so young. Compared to his former life where he died before after having only a taste of what life felt, he was much luckier in this one. In this life, he always had the choice, and after being doomed to death and therefore failing to realize all of his wishes, this life where he could do anything seemed like a beautiful dream no matter how you looked at it.

At the realization, Yucca felt a huge load being lifted up his chest. As if the chains which bounded him to his past and present had shattered entirely, leaving only fine particles. Memories both beautiful and hateful dreams.

Ah, no matter his sentence he would face it and completely blow them up if needed. He hadn't been given another life to be stressed. With these thoughts, Yucca walked back to his hotel. He should book his return ticket, Xanxus wouldn't like it if he played too much.

The thought made him pause as his eyes trailed to the side of the street. He grinned, a perfect business smile, one he hadn't managed to oh so beautifully execute after receiving his memories. Feeling his phone vibrate, his business-like expression fell to seem more casual and natural-looking.

Incoming Call: Boss

Yucca paused, his finger hovering over the tactical screen before tapping on the green button, accepting the incoming call. As he did, he resumed his walk to the hotel.

"AH! Yucca-nii-"

"Ran," the raven cut, his voice colder than it usually was when he answered the white. Silence fell on the other side of the line, and Yucca felt himself sigh in mild relief as the other didn't start to shot questions at him. "I-" he paused, searching for his words as his hand gently brushed through his unruly locks. "Could you refrain from calling, please? Texting too," he asked, or more like demanded.

The silence on the other side lasted a few more seconds, only being broken by incomprehensible onomatopoeia. In the end, a low whisper came from the phone. The voice which usually was filled with childish mischievousness seemed dull and heartbroken, but Yucca decided to ignore it, biting his lower lip in the process to refrain from saying anything. "Why?"

Why? Such a reasonable question. Such a simple answer to give.

Yucca didn't answer immediately, yeah, why? He had no reason to ask that of Ran, they weren't the same. But couldn't help it, want some distance from his "relative." Wasn't it strange in the first place, their closeness when they had never met once since he came to his new life? Didn't it seem abnormal? "Time, I need some time." He finally uttered, breaking the silence. "And I think we shouldn't contact each other anymore, talking on the phone, texting, I don't like it," he continued, letting his frustration out.

There was no answer on the other side of the phone. Only the sound of both males breathing was heard until the youngest opened his mouth. "I see," he hung up. 

Question: Who do you think the three mentioned characters are?

Thank you for reading, until next time^^