Chapter Seven – Sudden Danger

Tsuna twitched and hissed in pain as Verde dabbed something against his neck. It stung against the bite wound Reborn had left fiercely.

"Stop complaining. I have to disinfect it. Not that Reborn has any diseases you should be worried about, but I'm won't allow you to leave with an open wound."

"He shouldn't have bitten me in the first place," Tsuna grumbled under his breath, hands fisted on his knees as Verde's fingers gently moved down his neck and across the top of his shoulder, his touch ghosting over the scars.

"Reborn was staking his claim in the face of an adversary."

"What, so he bit me because he wanted to say that I was his?" Tsuna almost hissed in return, twitching, but that was because Verde's face was close to his neck, breath warming his skin.

"Because he wanted to declare his intentions to vie for your affections. By taking first blood, we aren't objectifying you, Tsuna." Verde let his tongue dart out to lap the dried blood on Tsuna's neck, something Tsuna grudgingly allowed because he had no energy to argue anymore and he didn't want to Verde to stop explaining.

"Then what are you doing?"

"It is to show we want your everything and will give everything to you in return. To be ours and yours in equal measure." Verde's hand slid down his side. Tsuna shivered at the feeling of Verde's warm palm skimming down his ribcage and then settling against the mark against his lower back. "It isn't an act of selfishness."

"It feels like it when you don't ask my permission."

"Permission comes later. For example…" Verde's tongue lapped at the back of Tsuna's neck again, like a content cat. "I could ask to have my second blood, to tie us further together."

Verde suddenly leaned away and Tsuna shivered at the loss of warmth. Demons ran at high temperatures, like portable furnaces.

"However, I shall not press my luck. I'm content as we are now." Procuring a bandage from the First Aid kit that Verde had unearthed from the bedroom, he gently resumed his tending of the bite on Tsuna's neck, ignoring his Summoner's hiss of pain when he dabbed disinfectant on it.

"I have one last question though. Why did you keep…keep licking it?"

"Your blood, a part of your life just as much as your Aether, contains traces of your Aether. It is like the sweetest ambrosia. It is difficult for even the most steadfast to ignore when you bleed so freely."

"Does it count as second blood?"

"I need permission," Verde reminded softly, pressing the square of bandage against Tsuna's neck and keeping it in place with pieces of tape. "And I would have to be the one to cause the wound."

Tsuna shifted slightly in his position. He and Verde were sitting on the edge of the bathtub, Verde having taken him there to use the sink and warm water to aid in cleaning and sorting out the bite wound on his neck.

"It's really quiet out there, considering how violently Colonello was clawing at Reborn's face when we left," Tsuna finally noted.

Verde scoffed quietly, thumb running the curve of Tsuna's neck, fingertips pressing to the scar on Tsuna's shoulder as he murmured, "Fon can make very strong barriers."

Tsuna jerked to his feet and threw himself to the door, struggling with the handle before he pushed himself through what felt like a bubble and into a cacophony of noise and disaster.

There was a huge gaping hole where his window had been. His bed in tatters and all he could think to do, after witnessing several of his books smouldering in the corner, was screech, "Stop it! Right now!"

Reborn and Colonello, still fighting in the middle of the room, froze, Colonello with his teeth still buried in Reborn's upper arm and Reborn with his hand still wrist deep in Colonello's stomach, where his right kidney would be, other hand pressed against Colonello's face, thumb pressed into his eye socket.

"I don't care if you have to…have to fight for my honour or whatever it is you're doing, but don't do it in here! Some of these books are over a thousand years old and if you damage any of them, I am going to murder you."

Fon, who was hovering in the corner, looked torn between amused and almost horrified.

Tsuna was hard pressed not to throw up when Reborn's hand left Colonello's stomach with a disgustingly squelchy noise, something pulpy and bloody sliding out of the hole left behind. Colonello unhooked his teeth at a much slower pace and then stood, allowing Reborn to get to his feet.

Tsuna watched them, trying to keep the distaste on his face hidden as Colonello bled over his floor and simply moved to take stocks of his books, glad to see the ones that were burnt were easily replaced. Most of the more important ones were kept in the storage unit because he was afraid of someone going through his stuff.

Rebuilding a set of books into their previous stack, Tsuna let his hand freeze on the spine of a leather bound book. He stared at it thoughtfully, tuning out the angry mumbling behind him. A flick to the first page showed him his thoughts were true.

Il diario di Luce Giglio.

Tsuna stared for a moment before he snapped the diary shut and moved to quickly gather everything up into some semblance of cleanliness. He struggled into a shirt before he dumped the diary in his new satchel along with his homework and scooped the bag up, slinging it onto his shoulder.

"I expect you to resolve whatever your problems are by the time I get back. I'm going to do work in the library. And, Colonello? Please, please stop getting blood on my floor. Those sorts of stains are difficult to get out."

Colonello blinked owlishly with his single eye, hand slowly lifting to press against the hole in his side. Tsuna watched, disgustingly interested as he witnessed Colonello's eye start to grow back.

Tsuna slowly shook his head, staring for another moment before he stepped back and left the room, satchel held close to his chest as if it were a priceless treasure.

With his Italian so rusty, Tsuna didn't mind having the dictionary open beside him for some particularly difficult words in Luce's diary. Of course, some words were so old, they didn't translate across easily and Tsuna was hard pressed to keep at it because the cramped handwriting was giving him a headache.

He had gotten to the third page, reading how Luce only started this diary in the days before she summoned Reborn, before he gave up. The ache behind his eyes hurt too much. He closed the diary, picking it up and putting it into his satchel, and that was when the pieces of paper slid out and, curiously, he picked one up.

Tsuna felt his breath catch in his throat upon seeing a sketch that was obviously Verde. He let his fingers follow the edge of the picture, along the curve of Verde's cheek. His hair was longer, his eyes sharper, his body stiff, but it was obviously Verde.

Flipping the picture, Tsuna saw a scrawl on the back. The brunet guessed it was Luce's signature and it spread the rest of the pictures, sketches, across the desk in front of him. He saw those that he recognised, Reborn and Colonello, Fon, too. There were three more he didn't know.

One had his face obscured by a hood and the other with an angular face, a dark mark below his eye, and had unruly hair. The last one had such an intense expression, Tsuna almost felt as if he was really being stared at.

Tsuna sat back in his seat, staring at the beautifully drawn sketches before wrinkling his nose and gathering them up again, tucking them reverently into the diary and putting the diary away. Instead, he brought out the booklet he had to finish. He wouldn't be able to focus on anything complex and the booklets were repetitive anyway.

He was on the last page when the soft drag of a chair interrupted him. The brunet looked up to see who was sitting opposite to him.

It took him several moments to find his tongue. Supposedly, the person sat across from him was a student and it took Tsuna a lot of deliberation to realise that he shouldn't be able to see the ears sticking out of the top of the stranger's head.

"You doing the homework from Davis too?" the guy asked, glancing up at Tsuna through pale lashes. The brunet felt something close to fear twist his gut at the purple eyes he was faced with.

Lifting a shoulder in a shrug, Tsuna swallowed his panic and muttered, "Yeah. Questions from the book stapled into one easy packet, how fun."

The other boy laughed, easing back into his seat. Tsuna caught, from the corner of his eye, the swish of a tail as white as the stranger's ears and hair.

"Tsunayoshi, right?"

"Tsuna," It was an automatic correction and Tsuna offered a wry smile. "Sorry, am I supposed to know you?"

"I joined the Summoning Academy while you were still in the hospital wing. Threw yourself in front of a Dervish and got yourself messed up. That was either very brave or very stupid."

"It was neither," Tsuna shot back, barely refraining from angrily snapping. "It was necessary. People were dying. It was the only way I could stop it. Who are you, anyway?"

"Byakuran." Byakuran offered a sly smile, the corners of his mouth edging into something that was almost sinister and showed the pale gleam of his teeth.

Tsuna shuffled in his seat, absently scribbling in an answer with half-hearted attention.

The library was suddenly cold and quiet. Byakuran leaned across the table to add, voice low, in a conspirator's whisper, "I heard the tutor, Reborn, showed up. But only after you were hurt. Not when the students were dying. Not when they were screaming and being torn apart, but when you were hurt."

Tsuna shoved his pen abruptly into his pencil case and threw the case into his satchel, stumbling to his feet and bracing a hand on the desk to keep himself upright from the sudden movement.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about it. It was an awful experience. I'm still recovering."

"It's been less than a week, Tsunayoshi." Byakuran said, voice slick and dark. "Yet, you don't seem to be favouring your arm at all. You certainly couldn't have healed that quickly by yourself yet you have no summons, hmm?"

Tsuna turned sharply, intent on walking away. Suddenly, Byakuran was in his space, hand dropping down onto his scarred shoulder, fingers digging in as he leaned in close to Tsuna's face. The brunet winced.

"You're hiding secrets, aren't you?"

Tsuna swallowed, shoulder shrinking under the grasp it was held in, the tender flesh burning and he couldn't look away from Byakuran, who was staring at him intensely. It took all he had not to flinch at the tail when it wrapped around his wrist, the fur deceptively soft against the skin of his hand, but the glance he gave it wasn't missed.

The elated expression on Byakuran's face was more difficult to miss.

"You have the vision. Oh, isn't this a delight?" Byakuran yanked him forward, nose pressed to the crook of Tsuna's neck as he inhaled deeply, ignoring Tsuna's sudden and violent squirming in an attempt to escape, hand thumping against his side, other hand still trapped by the deceptively soft yet tightly wound tail.

"I'm going to take you apart piece by piece and learn every filthy little thing about you."

Something in Tsuna's resolve broke and he shrieked, loudly, "Let go of me!" And then, something he couldn't describe happened. His dormant Aether surged under his skin but, without a demon to use it, to take it, it just bubbled madly, burning him from the inside out.

It was enough for him to startle Byakuran, to shove him away and slap him across the face, leaving a red handprint before he gathered his satchel and rushed out of the library, gasping for breath over his tightly reigned panic.

He all but ran when he reached the hallway and, when an arm dropped down across his shoulders, he was so tightly wound that he whirled around and immediately started reciting the Words of Reprimand, words that every Summoner used in case a demon turned unruly and uncontrollable.

A hand shot out and curled into the brunet's hair at the back of his head, pulling him forward into a firm chest, another hand slipping around his waist and Tsuna suddenly realised he was shaking.

"It's okay. You're not in danger. You're okay."

Verde's voice was quiet, concise and he repeated the phrase several times. His hands were neither restraining nor too loose to not be called an embrace. Tsuna felt himself relax, one hand gripping Verde's shirt as the other lifted to press to his mouth, so he could hiccup quietly.

"There was a barrier, so I could not get here sooner. Reborn would have answered your distress, but he and Colonello are cleaning the mess they made. What happened?"

When Tsuna finally composed himself, eyes flicking up to Verde's face, he gave a full body twitch in surprise, giving a push to the chest he was pressed against and stumbling back when Verde let him go.

A switch, something, had been flipped, because Tsuna had full view of the delicate horns curling back from behind Verde's ears, each at least a foot in length, tapered into a sharp point. When Verde blinked at him, silently waiting for confirmation that Tsuna was okay and waiting for an explanation, Tsuna saw a second eyelid slide horizontally across Verde's eyes as a thin, clear membrane.

There were other defining features, such as the bony stubs of wings arcing from his back, the pointed nails, the vertical cat like pupils. However, it was all giving Tsuna a headache. He slowly moved to press his back against the wall and sink down into a crouch, head in his hands.

"Tsuna." Verde crouched opposite to him, hand reaching out to rest on his knee. "I cannot help if I do not know the problem."

Tsuna swallowed, the noise loud in his ears along with the rushing of blood in his skull. In lieu of explanation, he looked up and reached out, fingertips following the curve of a warm, solid horn, skimming along its shape.

Verde's expression froze somewhere between lax and surprised, hand tensing on Tsuna's knee as he stared at the small brunet opposite him. Eventually, he said, "My guise is in place. You shouldn't be able to envision my external features."

"It isn't all of them. You look…you still look human. B-But there are other things. Your eyes and the…whatever they are sticking out of your back."

"It should not be possible for you to see them," Verde said, voice almost insistent, losing some of its characteristic blandness. "The human mind is unable to unravel the guise. Our human forms are near perfect, with the features you describe being held by strong illusions. The only way for a mortal to see these features would be if I was to feel strong negative emotion and the illusion breaks. Though, the only way to envision my true form would be for my anchor to break." His free hand drifted to the pacifier around his neck and Tsuna swallowed, audibly this time.

"I was scared," Tsuna began slowly, gaining Verde's full attention, "Because there was a person in the library. He began asking me questions about…about..." Tsuna's hand jerked to his shoulder. "And it made me uncomfortable. I tried to get away, but…I could see his ears, his tail. He said I have the vision. I got away. He was determined to talk about my relationship with Reborn too."

Verde licked his lips, his first sign of nervousness, before he abruptly stood and gently pulled Tsuna to his feet. "I will feel more comfortable keeping an eye on you in the controllable environment of your room. Colonello and Reborn should be finished. As your contract, Reborn needs to know of these developments."

"If he tries to act like a mother hen, I'm going to punch him." Tsuna's words were stronger than how he felt at the moment. He was shivering gently and quietly.

"If it would keep you safe, he would do anything. I doubt the promise of a punch would sway him." Verde took Tsuna's satchel and slung it over his own shoulder. Tsuna didn't complain as Verde moved to take hold of Tsuna's hand, as if guiding a young child across a road instead of leading a veritable adult back to his dorm room.

"This demon, the one with ears and tails, did you get his name?"

Tsuna couldn't suppress the shudder that wracked his body and, almost instinctively, he pressed closer to Verde's side, thankful for the gentle squeeze of fingers around his.

"He said his name was Byakuran."

"Strange name," Verde murmured, voice almost distant. Tsuna hesitated, glancing up at him because of the slight pause before his answer. Verde didn't look at him in return, continuing to guide him down the corridor and outside into the bright sun, hurrying him across the courtyard to the dorm building.

Tsuna was glad to see that the hole in his window was gone and that he actually had a window again, no matter how impossible it seemed that Reborn and Colonello could have gone out and fitted a window in the hour or so he had been gone for.

Letting Verde usher him inside, Tsuna was just distantly surprised to see a lack of Reborn in the dorm room, but Colonello and Fon were still there, huddled together and talking to each other.

Distantly, he let himself be guided to sit on the repaired bed and didn't complain when Verde procured a thin blanket from his closet and wrapped around his shoulders.

He didn't feel cold but, as soon as he was wrapped up, he felt warmer and inexplicably better.

"Verde left quite suddenly, but I'm glad to see he found you without any trouble." Fon approached him, a soft smile in place. Tsuna blinked up at him, not so much as looking at him as looking at what he could now see.

Fon had horns too, just as long and sharp as Verde's, except they were split into two points, as if those of a Chinese dragon. If Tsuna squinted, he could even see thin, overlapping scales in patches, on both Fon's hands and his face.

Colonello's horns –and Tsuna was hard pressed not to feel hysterical, since he already knew that Arcobaleno were crazy powerful, grounding horns adding onto that– were at an angle upwards instead of going straight back. They reached a certain point and then hooked back on themselves by about an inch, in an upside down 'tick' shape or a 'check mark,' the tail of the tick positioned above and behind Colonello's ears, the other, smaller flick pointing towards the back of Colonello's skull.

Tsuna was brought out of his musings when Verde sat next to him, reaching an arm around him and pulling him close, appealing to Tsuna's baser instincts of needing to be held in times of distress, something Verde had quickly picked up during his time with the teen.

"Where's Reborn?" Tsuna found himself asking, though the words were distant, as if they weren't coming from him. Verde was strangely cold. Tsuna wondered if this was one of the reasons why he was given a blanket.

"Neither Colonello or Fon can freely wander this plane without difficulty. Reborn left shortly before myself to gather replacements of what was broken and could not be repaired," The green haired man answered.

"Why…Why couldn't you get through the barrier? I thought you were meant to be one of the strongest of your kind and yet…" Tsuna asked, lifting his arm to sniffle into his wrist almost compulsively. In an almost obsessive movement, Tsuna moved to roll his shirt sleeve out of the way to rub viciously at his skin with the heel of his palm, still feeling the invisible warmth and weight of Byakuran's tail.

"That is something I want to know the answer to myself. Unfortunately, I'm at a loss, the same as you are. Were you hurt at all?"

Tsuna blinked up slowly at Verde, suddenly feeling lethargic as slim fingers edged under his chin, tilting his head this way and that. Every time he closed his eyes, they became heavier, making it difficult to keep them open.

He was aware of a voice calling out to him, but he was already far too gone.

Seeing demons at a young age wasn't a blessing for Tsuna.

Shortly after the news of his parents' deaths, he started to notice more and more of them. More often than not, he would see some of them hidden as humans, sharp claws and teeth and extra limbs giving them away.

As soon as they realised they were visible, the ones that were less than nice, with Summoner's who were lazy about the rules, made Tsuna's life became a living hell. They would pick at his hair and clothes, bruise his legs and arms so they wouldn't be seen, hidden by clothing, or dig pins between his toes if he lost his concentration.

One particularly vindictive demon trapped his hand in a door and Tsuna had to lie through his teeth to the nurse about what had happened, even as his fingers throbbed and swelled.

The nurse had a demon perched on her shoulder too; one that looked at him with a twisted expression, which Tsuna soon realised was out of pity and not actually a snarl.

He went through hell for four years and then, when he turned fifteen, something happened during the annual physical assessment.

Of course there were the usual tests, of height (he was short for his age), weight (dreadfully under, the doctor had said) and blood. And then, the man had attached something that Tsuna thought was for blood pressure, wrapping it around his upper arm and squeezing tightly.

And then…

"Congratulations, Tsuna. It seems you have the gift."

"The gift?" Tsuna had blinked up, suspicious, wary, and the doctor nodded, turning around to scribble something down.

"It isn't a surprise, considering your father, a powerful man, may his soul rest in peace, but you have the potential to become a Summoner. You do know what that is, don't you?"

Tsuna knew, just like almost every child in school knew, what a Summoner was. They were powerful, important people. They had demons at their beck and call, beasts that would grant their wishes and would even move the earth for them if they asked.

All Tsuna had to respond was a quick nod. The doctor gave him a smile.

"Now, all of those with access to their Aether –I hope you know what that is– can have the ability to summon and contract with demons. However, the only way for a budding Summoner to see a demon, that is, a Summoner who has recently accessed his Aether, like yourself, is to gain an injury from a demon. Of course, this is easier than it sounds. You see, some demons can hold a human form, and when humans come into their ability, they're called upon to sort them out. As it so happens, I am one of those demons in human form and I will be causing your vision cut today."

Tsuna knew this doctor was a demon. The wings, black, sharpened spikes of bone that were tucked in close, a whip like tail with a cruel curl like a scythe to the end. Jagged bones, horns, jutting from behind his ears, stark white against black hair.

His eyes were a yellow iris, with black pupil and black sclera. The pupil, while round, was split, one half slightly higher than the other. It was incredibly eerie. Every so often, the pupil would jump and settle into a vertical slit shape and Tsuna would often catch himself staring at the doctor.

"I have a question," Tsuna murmured and, when the doctor gave him the go ahead gesture, he added, "Will I need this injury if I can already…already see demons?"

The doctor scoffed, but the noise belied the bright look in his eyes. Tsuna squirmed in his seat, feeling like an unruly child.

"It's impossible for a human to see us as we are. Hold out your hand. This won't take a second."

Reluctantly, Tsuna held out his hand with trepidation and watched as the man took hold of his wrist with slim fingers and pulled his hand forward.

It was strangely intimate and weird to watch as the doctor made eye contact with him, even as he sank the elongated teeth into the meat of his thumb and break skin to draw blood.

He was given a bandage to paste down on his hand, after the doctor had wiped the wound with disinfectant.

"The wound should take effect over the next week or so. As soon as you see something, inform the teacher and your schedule should be shifted before the start of the next term," the doctor informed him quietly and then turned away, dismissing Tsuna.

As he turned, Tsuna had caught sight of the name badge clipped to the demon's shirt.

Reborn was a very strange name.

Tsuna woke up to soft voices murmuring around him. There was a hand running gently through his hair, brushing it back in calming, repetitive movements. He almost wanted to go back to sleep, but then he realised he didn't know when or why he had fallen asleep in the first place.

Then, he remembered he had passed out. He tried to sit up too quickly, his head spinning and his stomach churning unpleasantly. The hand in his hair immediately moved to rub his back, another hand settling around his waist to keep him upright as he wobbled.

"Careful," was said to him softly. "You've got a fever. Most of the poison was taken out so you'll feel better soon."

Tsuna blinked up blearily at Verde, the person who was keeping him steady and rubbing his back.

"Fever?" Tsuna asked, his mouth feeling like it was stuffed with cotton wool. Verde nodded, one of his hands moving to Tsuna's wrist, to brush his fingers against the skin. "You were poisoned by contact with something. The poison wasn't fatal, but it intended to have you unconscious and immobile for some time. Rest assured, you've only been asleep for less than forty-five minutes. You haven't lost a significant amount of time."

It took a few moments for the information to sink in. Then, Tsuna scratched gently and weakly at his wrist with a disgruntled expression.

"Are you telling me that weirdo in the library did something to me?" Tsuna asked, voice slightly incredulous, but mostly stuffy, as if he had a blocked nose. The room was swimming in front of his eyes, but as he spoke, it started to clear. He had a sneaking suspicion that Verde's hand, resting on his contract seal now, had something to do with his improving condition.

"His name is Byakuran, a demon of high standing," someone said from Tsuna's left, and he almost fell over with how fast he twisted to see who was speaking.

The solemn voice belonged to Colonello, who was sat on the windowsill, one hand still resting gingerly over his stomach.

"You know him?" Tsuna couldn't help but ask, the curiosity almost burning.

"Unfortunately, kora. We've had clashes with him and his kind before. It wasn't a very pleasant ending for anyone, kora. He's dangerous, unpredictable and volatile." Colonello audibly ground his teeth, a noise that sent shivers down Tsuna's spine. "He could have killed you before we got there because of that stinking barrier, kora."

"Why would he want me dead?" Tsuna was worried, but mostly bewildered, wondering when his peaceful school life had suddenly become something out of a soap drama.

"Because you are associated with us, Tsuna. Now, however, that he knows you have the vision, he may not simply want to kill you. What he may plan to do is unspeakable." Verde's hand slipped to his waist, holding on almost too tightly, thumb rubbing Tsuna's hip bone gently. "In the interest of your health, while I am sorry to say this, I must insist you make another contract."

Tsuna felt his stomach drop as Verde continued.

"With Colonello here."

From the expression on Tsuna's face, Colonello intervened, "Believe me, kora. I want to contract with you in better circumstances than this, but it won't happen if you're dead because of that bastard. I don't care what shit he does with his life, but I'm never going to forgive him for killing Lal."

The cold fury in Colonello's voice triggered something in Tsuna's brain that made him lean back, heart palpitating in his chest and palms going sweaty. The apologetic look that Colonello shot him didn't do much to help.

"Who is Lal?"

"Lal was one of us. An Arcobaleno, gifted with the ability to access two Flames so she could use her Aether. Byakuran tore her down with barely a thought, for no reason, and had the gall to flaunt it in our faces."

Tsuna hissed sympathetically between his teeth, thinking back, unbidden, to when he was eleven, when he saw that picture of his parents, torn to pieces. It was a lot of pain, grief, and twisted anger to deal with. He could understand where Verde was coming from.

But contracting with Colonello..?

Tsuna looked up to Verde again, who stared down at him with an unfathomable expression. Then, the green haired demon reached out and took Tsuna's hand, pressing his thumb to the finger he had initiated first blood from, something in his face changing, becoming softer.

He barely knew Verde for even a day, but something inside him didn't want to disappoint him. To hurt him, or lose him…

Tsuna stuck his hand out in Colonello's direction, looking him in the eye and noticing briefly that the second one still had some healing to finish.

"Your summoning rune. I'll need it if we want this to happen."

The ecstatic look on Colonello's face made something in Tsuna's stomach twist and flop, as if there were butterflies in him.

Tsuna finished drawing the circle, standing up slowly and rubbing the ache out of his scarred shoulder, rolling the joint gently. After that, he took the knife Verde handed to him and nicked his palm, across the familiar line –there was a scar there already.

Dribbling his blood around the circle, Tsuna recited the words loudly and firmly, so there would be no mistake. He watched, closely, as Colonello appeared in the circle, looking bright and cheerful despite the fact that he still only had one eye.

"You're taking a long time to heal," Tsuna noted as he smudged the circle so Colonello could step out of it. "Why is that?"

Colonello reached for the knife as he answered, "Injuries caused by demons take longer to heal, kora. When we make the contract, when you become my Summoner, the healing will accelerate since I can access your Aether."

Tsuna let Colonello take his hand, winding their fingers together to keep the cuts pressed against one another.

Like Verde, Tsuna simply stood still to allow Colonello to choose a place to mark and watched his expression brighten further.

Colonello reached out to gently unbutton Tsuna's shirt and nudge it out of the way, pressing his hand to Tsuna's unmarked collarbone and shoulder, the other side from the scar. His thumb was gently rubbing against Tsuna's neck.

Tsuna automatically reached out to Colonello's neck, forced to shove his hand underneath Colonello's vest and bunch the material up –hand running against firm abs– so he could position his hand in the same place.

"We offer the exchange of blood, to bind our bodies, kora."

"We offer the exchange of Aether, to bind our souls," Tsuna responded softly, keeping eye contact with Colonello. Every contract he made so far felt strangely intimate, like an act shared between two lovers.

"With this offer of blood and Aether, we hereby agree for the contract to be forged between our beings until such a time it ends."

Tsuna slowly let his hand slide away as he felt the contract settle into place, soft and almost soothing against his skin. He didn't even begrudge Colonello for leaving his hand pressed against his skin since he was still coming down from the buzz of power the contract gave him.

Of course, that was when Colonello's hand slipped to the back of his neck and pulled him into a kiss.

The fact Reborn returned from wherever he was at the same time just happened to be a coincidence.

Hello all!

Just so you know, this will be your last chapter for a while as I go on holiday to the north of Scotland where there will be no internet and no phone signal! Obviously I can still write on my laptop while I'm away, but the earliest you might get a chapter is the 19th of August! As consolation, this is the longest chapter as of yet...?

Hope you liked this chapter and, as always, huge thanks to my beta Pure Red Crane.