Full Sum:
(AU) With conviction in his eyes, blood on his palm, and flames swallowing his body, Tsuna offered his hand, and in turn, his soul, to the demon before him. The demon grinned darkly, their abyssal eyes gleaming with a madness not quite hidden, canines glinting from a barely hidden smirk. "You've interested me, Tsunayoshi Sawada. I will accept your contract." In a world of demons, angels, and other mystical creatures, Tsuna just tries to fit in any way he can. Acrobaleno27 / Arco27 / Final Pairings Undecided
Because I've really really wanted to do a demon/fantasy-esque AU for so long - And yes, I am aware I have many other fics to update. I'll get to it eventually. I'm horrible I know thanks :)
Also, I've had this written for months and have never posted it, I don't know if I'll continue it or not considering how I'm falling out of the fandom but I'll attempt to stick to it. Enjoy~
Disclaimer: Don't and won't own KHR
"Tsunayoshi Sawada, you have failed your Summoning and Rituals class two years in a row. I'm afraid unless you succeed this third time, you will have to leave the school." Tsuna felt sick to his stomach and couldn't hide the grimace on his lips at the Headmaster's words. "Throughout your many classes, you have been unable to summon any kind of demon or form a contract. I… cannot quite figure out why exactly, but there is no reason unless your flame is simply not strong enough and if that's the case, you don't belong here." God, Tsuna didn't want to be here. He already knew his flames were practically nonexistent. He had been told that for years by not only his peers but his family themselves. "I'm sorry, Tsunayoshi. But this is your final chance." Don't screw it up. Tsuna could hear the unspoken words and with a bitter resentment crawling in his eyes, he nodded vaguely before stepping out of the darkened room.
He let out a shallow breath and raked a hand over his scalp, biting the inside of his cheek when he heard a hushed whisper from the room he had just come from.
"You don't seriously believe he can form a contract when he hasn't been able to for two years, do you?"
"Of course not. He'll fail the assessment and be sent back to his family. We don't need people like him here."
"I feel bad for his family. Bet they're ashamed of him."
A rueful grin covered his lips and his eyes were shadowed as Tsuna ambled out of the school, ignoring the jeers and mocks that his peers send his way. His mind mulls over his present situation and he despairs because so many years have passed, and hasn't summoned a single demon. He was shoved into his hell hole because his family had a long line of powerful Summoners. Had, he constantly reminded himself.
The small brunette shoved his hands in his school slacks and let his mind drift and his feet take him wherever they pleased. He was so damn tired of always being looked down upon, so tired of not knowing or understanding what exactly was going on. He was shoved headfirst into his school in the middle of the year and by the time he started, he was so far behind, he was unable to catch up. The only thing he knew how to do properly was the summoning circle - and that was from those long years of attempting to summon at least something. Other than the summoning circle, he had no knowledge of the other demons.
He didn't exactly pay attention anymore.
Reaching his destination, Tsuna let his eyes drift up to the door to the homely wooden shack he had found nearly a year and a half ago. He had been driven out of his dorm room by unsavory persons and found peace in the woods that surrounded the school. He pushed through the door and set it back, ignoring the way it was slightly ajar. A soft smile graced his lips, and a determined gleam filled his eyes as he set down his school supplies and grabbed the ritual chalk from a nearby cabinet. He did this nearly every day since his first official summoning had failed.
With practiced ease, he traced a familiar pattern on the smoothed out wooden floor, each movement was fluid and natural. Adding his final touches, he grinned with pride before stepping back and snagging the ritual knife from the holster students were supposed to wear for the summonings. His hand raised to be parallel to the ground and he breathed in before sliding the blade against his palm and breathing out. A familiar pain ricocheted through his arm but he pushed the pain back and lowered his arms to the ritual circle. Letting the blood soak his fingers, he began to draw specific patterns on top of the white chalk and stood back.
A faint glow lit up the circle as words began to spill from his lips. "From the depths of hell to the heights of heaven, from the three layers that protect our plain, I call to whoever hears my plea. Come forth and accept my offering!" At the last note, he felt the same pressure he had felt every time his attempted the summon build up in his chest and his head. Tsuna nearly doubled over from the pressure that forced itself up and attempted to release itself. But whatever blocked that burrowing pressure held steady, and the resounding hum that filled the air silenced; the glow from the chalk and blood vanished.
Tsuna let his shoulders drop, a sigh tumbling from his lips. He turned his back to the circle and reached for the bandages he always kept close by before wrapping his hand.
He still couldn't do it, he still couldn't summon anything.
Days passed and every day when he got home from the school, he did the same ritual. Same words, same circle, same blood, but nothing ever changed. He always failed. The day of his final assessment came too early. He was going to fail like he always did, Tsuna knew that for a fact. So with a blank face and empty eyes, he drew the ritual circle like he had before and stood. The teacher continued to stroll around the classroom, watching as the other students performed and completed their assignment of summoning and contracting. Tsuna gulped down the saliva that gathered in the back of his throat and rubbed his sweaty palms on his slacks. The judging eyes of his peers were on his back and snickers pierced through to his ears.
His muscles tensed for a moment before relaxing and Tsuna just sighed before letting the blade slide against his palm like a knife to butter. Scarlet rained down on his fingers and he traced patterns over the chalk and stood up again.
Words fell gracefully from his lips in repetitive ease. "From the depths of hell to the heights of heaven," the circle glowed like it normally did and Tsuna hesitated for a moment before shaking his head and continuing. "From the three layers that protect our plain," the pressure was there again, building up and forcing itself along his collarbone and around his heart. "I call to whoever hears my plea," the teacher let an eyebrow raise at the nearly blinding light coming from Tsuna's circle but said nothing. "Come forth and accept my offering!" The light shimmered and filled the entire room, and Tsuna felt the pressure in his chest worse than he had before. His heart sped up and his breathing grew labored as pain filled his chest.
The light died away before it could continue to grow and Tsuna fell to the floor, clutching his chest. His peers looked at him for a moment with what could almost be described as a frightening awe before it turned to smug mocking, laughs surrounding him. The teacher looked conflicted but the frown on his face did not move, hair casting a shadow over his eyes.
Tsuna gasped at the pain that blossomed in his chest whenever he inhaled, it felt like something inside of him had cracked. And it wanted to be let out. Pushing and nudging violently against his chest in a steady thrum.
"Sawada." His teacher acknowledged and Tsuna grunted in response, still clutching to his upper body tightly. "You failed for the third time in a row. I'm going to have to-"
"Please," his voice was breathy and weak, but something stirred in him at that last attempt to summon and contract. He could feel something he hadn't felt before and that something urged him to try - to try at least one more time. "Just give me the rest of today," he practically begged.
The teacher was silent, eyes shadowed in contemplation as their lip twitched slightly. Their dark eyes traveled back to Tsuna and saw the pure determination. The teacher smiled slightly, exasperated. "Alright, Sawada. Just today, but if you come to school tomorrow with no contract, it's to the Headmaster's office and out of here you go."
His head bobbed and a stupid grin covered his lips that he struggled to push under. Not even the laughs of his peers could spoil this moment. He thought that if that feeling in his chest was true, then perhaps he had a chance. Perhaps that tug in his chest that told him to try one more time was right. Perhaps he wouldn't be so useless after all.
The day couldn't finish any faster as Tsuna sped through the school and out the doors to his hidden shack. Anticipation bubbled up in his chest and he couldn't stop his lips from twitching upwards. He drew the ritual circle with practiced ease and let his blood go over the second coat, part of his lip under his tooth in anxiety. He held out his hand like normal and proceeded with the chant. "From the depths of hell to the heights of heaven," that pressure that normally burrowed up in his body was even stronger than it ever had been before. His body trembled as light began to emanate from the circle, the sickly crimson taking up a brighter hue. "From the three layers that protect our plain," the cracks that had formed under his skin that blocked the pressure only cracked further apart and the pressure began to push even harder, building up in one solid place. An unnatural wind picked up and flung his hair away from his face. "I call to whoever hears my plea," he paused for a moment, a split second, eyes hardening and teeth gritting because for once he would do it. "Come forth and accept my offering!" His voice resounded at the last note and an unearthly force pushed him back several feet from the circle, a demonic aura filling the room instantaneously. His senses exploded as the force pushed him away and for once in his life, he felt right. Warmth flooded his body and he felt invisible flames lick at his skin peacefully, a sense of harmony dulled his fear and almost amber orbs turned upwards to meet charcoal black ones.
"Chaos."
The nearly translucent flames danced around the two, a bright orange mixing with a sharp, sour yellow. His eyes dragged across the being across from him, unearthly slit back orbs stared intently back at him, glossy jet feathers seemed to be sprouted from its limbs. Their entire body seemed in perpetual motion, similar to that of darkness itself, and faint hues of gold shimmered in the creases of the dark, leathery skin. Tsuna forced back a shudder and maintained eye contact with the demon that stared slyly back at him. Obsidian horns jarred from what Tsuna assumed was its head - if those sharp eyes were anything to go by - and spread to the sky before curling back down to a deadly point.
"I-I," he attempted to swallow his stutter and the faint sunset flames that surrounded him soothed his anxiety. "My name is Tsunayoshi Sawada and I-"
His words were swiftly cut off by the demon's own, a sickly grin on its lips. "How did someone like you summon me?" The gleam in its eyes was unsettling and the small brunette stiffened before stumbling over his own words.
"I-I well, I'm not exactly… um, sure how, but-" His flames roared and snapped at the offending hand of the demon that reached out to touch the teen who had his injured hand close to his chest, blood sliding down his wrist. They calmed after a moment as the demon retracted his hand and tilted its head slightly, what could be called smirk on their lips. The ghostly fire curled around Tsuna and observed the demon, delicately wrapping around Tsuna's body.
It seemed to hum for a moment and faced Tsuna who straightened his back unconsciously. "What do you call me for?" The question was direct and firm, but the seemingly coy aura was ever present around the being of supposed darkness.
Tsuna calmed his nerves and breathed. "I am here to," he paused, rephrasing the answer to what better suited him, "I request a contract with you."
And with conviction gleaming his eyes, blood trailing down his palm, and the ever-growing flames caressing his body, Tsuna offered his hand to the demon before him. The demon grinned darkly, their abyssal eyes gleaming with a madness not quite hidden, canines peaking from his supposed mouth. "You've interested me, Tsunayoshi Sawada. I will accept your contract." A pitch black and clawed hand reached out to Tsuna's own open palm, clasping it tightly, dagger-like fingers clutching at his delicate skin.
Tsuna inhaled sharply and for the first time in his life, recited the words to form the contract. "By allowance of the gods above and devils below, I, Tsunayoshi Sawada, am willing to relinquish partial freedom of my soul to be contracted with a being of the other three planes, should they accept." His words sealed the oath and in return, the demon filled its own part. A darkness swathed the being and from it emerged a smartly dressed male with a smirk of his own, showing off canines that peeked from his lip. The hand that held onto Tsuna's own was still onyx compared to the rest, claws still digging into his wrist.
"By choice of the demonic blood in our veins, I, Reborn, accept the choice to expend partial of my power and relinquish partial of my freedom to be contracted with a being from the fourth plane, should they accept." His hand tightened and in turn, Tsuna's did the same, a shimmering gold emitted from the conjoined palms.
"By ordination of the four mystic planes, I accept this contract."
The flames mixed in a dance around the two hands, twirling separate at first before wrapping around each other and mixing. They twisted once more before compacting into a smaller flicker and sealing the pact. A dark yellow ring formed in the middle of his index finger before expanding, jagged patterns extended from it and engulfed a large part of the finger, a soft curl wrapping around the top and bottom of the finger it claimed. On the demon's hand which slowly turned into the softness of a human's hand, a sharp orange covered his right hand, various swirls and curly cues crawled across the back of his palm and onto the fingers. Soft patterns filled out the middle and various tendrils of orange curved in circles and twists. A multitude of dots and lines continued to dance across his palm and he watched in almost a sick fascination as the pattern slowly fell to a stop. As soon as the display of ownership had fallen, the elaborate patterns retracted back into themselves and compacted into a thin band that fused with skin. On Tsuna's index finger now rested a thin golden band with various wires that intwined intricately. The demon's own finger had a large band of stark orange, a curl in the center.
Rapidly fading amber turned to a caramel brown pair which closed as Tsuna's body pitched forward, only to fall into the arms of the newly contracted demon. Reborn smirked faintly and couldn't help the chuckle that spilled from his lips. This would most definitely be fun.