Title: Contract

By:Metamorcy

Rating:M

Pairing: Arcobaleno27, main R27

Disclaimer: Seriously? Don't own, just the idea

A/N: Actually, much to everyone's hopes and dreams, I have the next couple of chapters already done and ready to send out to the beta. Now it just depends whether or not I want to press that send button ;)

Beta'ed by WhiteAngel128

Chapter 14

"So, this is the man that Tsuna has staying with him," Dino hummed to himself, looking over the person carefully, his skills at detection as strong as ever. He could tell immediately by the odd presence and aura that radiated from the man that this was a Meraviglian, and a powerful one. Being around Assurers and Capturers for most of his life with his younger brother Giotto and his grandfather Timoteo gave him the ability to tell apart between the two easily and with that, he was able to identify what other normal humans couldn't. This person, Reborn, was perhaps the person that could…no, he wouldn't go any further until he'd seen this Meraviglian in action. "I thought it was funny that your bills were getting slightly bigger than before."

"A-Ah, well…" Tsuna stuttered, knowing that look on his brother's face, it was calculative. He had seen it all the time whenever Dino was looking at someone, like he was trying to pick apart the very being and learn everything he could all at once, however and luckily for him, that look had never once been turned to him. It left a scary feeling on him just from seeing it and he shivered under those brown eyes, backing away momentarily. He had felt that look from Giotto a couple of times directly on him, but this was different.

"Well, at least I know you're at least safe now. However, what happened to your arm?" Dino's voice was strained like he was holding back on something, his expression kept in that stoic form he was used to. It was his business face and Tsuna knew it wouldn't be cracked easily, his older brother was a professional after all.

Still, the brunet couldn't help but peer down at the mentioned cast curiously. Regardless, Dino's eyes didn't lift up from the said cast and trailed over the entire body, noticing the color difference on the neck and head. The blonde was able to tell that there had been some bandages wrapped around those spots, but why? He wasn't too sure about that. He would need to look into the records to find out what had occurred.

Reborn narrowed his eyes as he looked over the blonde, his eyes reading Dino's complete form, watching for anything suspicious, anything that was strange. Why did it seem like there were two-sides to this man? He could already note the difference seeing as the actions varied from the words spoke, the movement contradicted with what Dino was trying to do. How odd.

Dino spoke once more when he didn't get a reply. "Did something happen?"

"Obviously." The raven answered with a growl, glaring at the blonde, and despite the conversation flow, he hadn't moved an inch away from the brunet. He looked ready for a fight if necessary.

'Protective…' Dino noted to himself, it looked like his little brother had drawn someone in with his little charms. And because of that, he didn't know how to make of this new situation, it was different compared to the general he dealt with.'Very protective…maybe possessive, too.'

"This school was bribed to wager a fight between Tsuna and some classmates of his, however, Tsuna here doesn't have an Assurer to fight for him in the first place. This was the end result, it looks better than it did before." Reborn's glare didn't lighten up and the blonde knew he was being examined by those dark eyes, every movement he made was being registered carefully. The eldest of the two brothers wanted nothing more than to shiver, they were scarier than his father's or any clients he had meet, but still he kept on. He could not show any weakness, this was a fight.

"I…see," Dino registered the information, unable to hide the narrowing of his eyebrows. A fight? That wasn't what he had expected and wasn't something that was supposed to happen on school ground, he would need to investigate this more thoroughly to find out the truth. "I'm afraid I wasn't aware of that. I take it he's alright now, yes?" His eyes drifted away from the raven and looked once more at his brother, noticing that there was more confidence in those eyes, more happiness, and he could see those smiles that had been aimed at the taller man.

Reborn's stare hadn't left and instead raised an eyebrow, peering behind at Tsuna for a moment then back. "Tsuna, I thought you told me your family hates you."

The brunet perked up at that, looking between Reborn and his older brother, watching the blonde taking a step back. Did Dino just flinch? Why? "Ah, yes, they do."

"Hmm, that doesn't seem to be true in your brother's case here. His expression may look cold, but his eyes when they turn towards you seem to lighten up. And his actions are contradicting his words," Reborn smirked, looking positively gleeful, as if finding some sort of magical loophole in a pile of nonsense. "I don't believe your brother hates you as much as you believe he does. Isn't that right, Dino?"

The blonde narrowed his eyes at that, taking a step back. Had he just been read? No, he had never allowed that to happen, not even his father or grandfather, both were professional readers, could get through his wall. 'What is he? A detective?'

"Do I look like one?" Reborn snorted.

Dino twitched. 'Considering he's a Meraviglian, perhaps he has the ability to read minds?'

"No, I can't read minds, but I know someone who can," Actually, those expressive brown eyes on Dino made things far too easy to understand what the blonde was thinking, the way the emotions flowed through them. Reborn could already see himself having fun teasing this one, he was far too easy, and grinned,wanting to mess with both brothers for a moment. Tsuna just looked between the two curiously, not entirely sure on what was going on. "Tsuna, your brother doesn't hate you, no, I'd say he's been taking care of you behind the scenes. Didn't you tell me one time that he was the one that's been sending you money? I believe there's more to that."

"H-Huh?"

Dino's eyes widened for a moment, taking a step back. "W-What are you talking about? I have no love towards my useless brother."

"Your eyebrows twitched when you said that," Reborn smirked, stepping closer, his grin positively evil. "And you also stuttered as well."

The blonde remained quiet, turning away from the raven. He didn't want to reveal anymore of himself, it was enough as it was. Never had he felt this open before, like someone had torn apart his shield. He watched as Tsuna came up to him, looking at him curiously, questions obvious in those large eyes. There was some hesitation in that movement, of course, watching his arms for anything, afraid that those limbs would come up and slap him across the face or shove him aside.

Still, the brunet wanted to know if what Reborn said was true. Was he really loved? Actually cared for, not hated. It would make all the difference in his family, to let him know that there was at least one person out there that truly loved him as a blood relation and didn't see him as a useless, pathetic, waste of space. Slowly, Tsuna reached out, grasping hold of Dino's arm carefully and when he saw no movement to being hit (now that he remembered, Dino had never used violence against him), he held on tightly. "Dino-nii?"

Those earthly brown eyes turned away once more, not wanting to look for too long. He would simply crack under those large innocent honey-colored eyes. They looked so wide in wonder, like a child, but he knew better, Tsuna had lost his innocence to the dark world through family. The brunet dwelled in it and lived with it right within the walls of his home, but had the ability to deal with that said darkness as it surrounded him crushingly.

"Dino-nii, please answer me."

"Tsuna, I…" He started, but stopped soon after, unsure on what to say. His face twisted in anger and turned away, wanting nothing more than to escape his predicament. He hadn't come here to be talked to, only to check up on Tsuna, that was it.

Just as he was about to rip himself away, he heard Reborn take a step forward and shivered at the way those eyes promised despair and death. They were definitely the scariest he had ever dealt with and trembled terribly under that gaze. It was best to get it all out, it was for Tsuna, everything was for him.

Dino sighed, relaxing with his shoulders falling down, and finally spoke. "Forgive me, I…was never honest with you. Our father is simply too controlling," As he started, he knew he had everyone's full attention. Before he realized it, he was babbling out whatever he could think of, everything he had wanted to say for a long time. "He ordered us to hate you, Giotto as well, however, I'm afraid for him, it grew stronger because he ended up agreeing with Dad. However, luckily for him, he always had a more business sense and was careful about his image than anything else. I…I never went along, at least, not completely." The blonde raised his hand up to scratch his neck, looking nervous. He had never imagined revealing himself so soon, it was harder to do in person that in an imaginary world called his mind. "You are my adorable little brother and I've tried my best to protect you behind our father's back from the background or else he would be constantly on my case."

"W-What? What do you mean?" Tsuna was staring, there was something akin to hope in his eyes…perhaps everything wasn't as bad as he thought…

"Do you know why I got the smaller company even though I was the eldest, Tsuna? And it wasn't because I was clumsy, well, it was a part of it. It was actually because Dad saw what I was trying to do, he saw that I was disobeying him in protecting you from him, but luckily for me, my good looks and ability to perform couldn't turn me away from any position I wanted. Dad knew I could turn things around just as much as Giotto could, but since our brother followed Dad's words, he got Vongola instead of me. Still, with the company I was given, I took control of it, changed it, and used it in my favor," Dino closed his eyes for a moment, sighing slightly, knowing that his words couldn't stop yet, there was still so much to say. "I supported you from behind, I gave you what you needed, money for college, money to live off of, and it was all I could do without getting caught."

"M-Money for college? But I got a scholarship for it," Tsuna looked positively confused until it clicked. "That scholarship was given to me from you wasn't it…"

"Yes, I knew you would succeed, I knew you were a good little brother, that's why I paid for everything, and I still do. But then Dad, well, you know what happened. Honestly, he was trying to kick you out into the streets, but you were able to keep going by getting jobs to support yourself and then Dad continued to act up. Well, I pulled a few strings and managed to place you here in this school where you would be safer and away from the watchful eyes of our father. It was the best I could do with Dad watching my very move. At least then, you'll be away from Mom and her constant disapproving glances."

"Dino, I…" Tsuna knotted his eyebrows before stepping forward, engulfing his oldest brother in massive hug. Reborn stood to the side with a smirk, watching as the brothers began to make up from the years of separation forced upon by their own blood father. He was starting to find more reasons to find this asshole of a man to kill. At least he knew Dino had earned a spot in his book for being a good guy.

The blonde immediately returned the hug, bringing himself closer to the other, almost about to cry. A few tears were shredded from his eyes, dropping down, and Dino smiled happily, glad that at long last he was finally forgiven. "I'm sorry, brother, I'm so sorry. I did the best I could to protect you. Can you ever forgive me for what I put you through?'

With a wide smile, Tsuna nodded his head, burying himself further into his brother, never wanting to let go. He was happy, he was so happy. As he pulled away, he reached up with his good hand and wiped away the tears. "Of course! At least I know that behind the scenes you were trying to protect me. I'm so glad that one of my family members cares about me."

Dino sighed at that. "Sorry about Giotto though, it's not entirely his fault, its father's and you know it. I remember a time when all of us brothers were holding hands together happily and then Dad came in to tear us all apart. I didn't like it. I liked it when we were all smiling as one, it was one of my most treasured memories."

"I could never hate my brothers. It was always Dad and Grandfather that would make me miserable and should be blamed-"

"No, we, your older brothers, should be blamed as well and be held accountable. We should have known better, especially Giotto, that something was wrong with their orders."

Tsuna's shoulders slumped at that, wanting to argue back, but was silenced by Dino's hand raising up.

"Don't make excuses for us, you're more than welcome to blame us. But things are done and can't be taken back, we can only work towards the future now," Dino chuckled, patting the brunet on the head gently. "Well, I hope we can bring our relationship back to normal or at least repair it. But I need to warn you, I'll still have to act against you when Dad is nearby, I can't have him being suspicious of me. Hopefully, I can avoid such confrontations." He didn't need to go any further to see Tsuna's eyes shining brightly, definitely and easily defined in happiness. The blonde knew he was getting a second chance.

But at least now, Tsuna will know that anything he did to him was only to hide his true feelings away. The brunet, after all, knew their father better than anyone else on how terrible he could act.

"Ah, that's right, little brother. I actually came here to give you something, a present of sorts. I was actually going to give it to you anonymously, but that's no longer needed." Dino grinned happily and glanced behind him at the doorway where he had placed a box at. He had almost forgotten about it honestly until he saw Tsuna's wonderful artwork on the walls, a few scenery paintings hanged up neatly. It had been a while since he last saw them. "I remembered you mentioning this one time and I used my persuasion skills to get this for you. I hope you like it."

Tsuna stared at the box, carefully taking it into his hands, and examined around it for anything suspicious. Finding nothing, he placed the box on the kitchen table and opened the lid, peering inside curiously. What he saw made his entire face break out into a wide grin. "Oh my god! Are these Winsor & Newton Artist's Acrylics? And a whole set of all eighty colors? This must have been expensive!"

"It's only 60,000 yen."

Tsuna stared at his brother before yelling, "60,000 yen?! That's a lot of money!" Seeing his older brother flinch at that, he toned it down and thought it out. Well, considering Dino's job, he should be aware that the eldest would have a lot of money to be spared.

"It's alright, little brother. I have plenty of money to spend and I just thought that it's better if I use it on you than on myself. I kinda have everything I would ever want materially. The only thing I really pay for is for the stuff I keep breaking." Dino laughed at that, rubbing the back of his head. Tsuna sighed, he should have really seen this coming. Regardless, he tackled his brother, holding on tightly happily.

Perhaps things were changing for the better. And it had started ever since he had met Reborn…

"You have to leave today, right? Then I'll cook you breakfast and even lunch if you want and you can take some extras home with you."

The eldest blinked. "Eh? Shouldn't I be cooking? I'm the eldest after all."

Tsuna gave a look of horror and flushed his face angrily, almost threateningly. "Absolutely not! Don't go near my kitchen!"

"Awww…I'm not that bad."

"Yes, you are! I remember you managed to destroy all the cabinets at the main house whenever we were together!And you somehow placed a huge dent into one of the pans as well!"

Reborn almost wasn't able to contain his laughter, these brothers were going to be a handful, he could just see it happening.

Dino, despite all the trouble he caused for his family because of his clumsiness, never ever hated his younger brother. No, he loved him. He was adorable, sweet, and so very loving. He could see that in those large eyes when they looked at him. But he couldn't show it. No, his family was too controlling, too demanding, and loved to order him around. And he too had to follow the rules. Destroy Tsuna. It was a terrible rule, an appalling thing. And he had to follow.

Though he had do the same terrible acts to his cute younger brother, he always made sure to make them as light as possible while not directing suspicion towards his motives. He couldn't let anyone find out before he was successful. No one was to find out until it was too late to be stopped.

He wanted his younger brother to be free, it was a hard thing to do, but Dino had to try. Even when he had been forced to take over a smaller company while his older of his two younger brothers got the bigger, he still tried. And anyway, he didn't mind his current job and actually used to it make sure Tsuna was well taken care of.

When Tsuna wanted to go into that art and culinary school in Japan, Dino had pulled a few strings to let the judges see his work first before making any decisions. He had total confidence that his brother would pull it off and get accepted and he did. Tsuna was immediately taken in and placed into the classes, working his way up to the top with his skills. Money wasn't an issue, under the false pretense of a scholarship, Dino made sure to pay for all the expenses, demanding to the school that if Tsuna got wind of anything he had been doing or anyone else, he wouldn't hesitate to use his own company against them and tear them apart.

With the threat, the school did as they were told, writing everything off as it should, and Tsuna was happy. Dino knew that for a fact because one day, he had decided to peek in on his younger brother during one class session to see him smiling so cheerfully. It made him feel better and less guilty for all the horrible things he had been forced to do. At least here Tsuna could be free as he was meant to be. And anyway, Dino loved Tsuna's artwork, he made sure to keep every single one of them he got his hands on hidden and locked up in a safe where even his father couldn't get to. They were precious, no one was going to get them.

And then his father screwed it all up. His fucking dumbass of a father forced Tsuna out of school and back to an unwanted home to defend himself from the harshness. No job Tsuna searched for lasted long enough and soon, no place wanted to hire him in fear of being destroyed. Dino did the best he could without Iemitsu finding out, he sent hidden amounts of money, checks, donations, to his brother's home where he stayed with their mother, but it wasn't enough to the rising expenses of bills, food, and other things that needed to be paid off with the combination of them both.

So Dino tried to pull a couple more strings and used them on his own father in hopes of convincing him to send him elsewhere, somewhere Dino could keep a more watchful eye. He would get Iemitsu to send Tsuna to Relinquish University, a place where the blonde hoped that Tsuna could be able to gain some companions to help break those shackles. It was the best he could do. He knew that Iemitsu was unable to be a Capturer, he didn't have that special ability, something Dino knew could be taken advantage of since Tsuna has it. Though, he himself couldn't be one either, he would work with what he had in his hands.

Once more, since the school has been paid off by their father, Dino provided the additional money into a bank account his father couldn't touch and combined it under Tsuna's name so that he would be able to monitor and use it. The idea had been brilliant and Tsuna was able to use the money to live the way he wanted. There were times he would take a peek and see what Tsuna spent on, but it was nothing more than the basics and art supplies. It was funny to see that despite everything and all the money his brother got from him, Tsuna refused to spend more than needed and saved up for anything he really wanted. He had been shocked a few times at the amount his brother could spend in one setting for his art supplies, but then again, the brunet barely spent anything than just necessaries to live off of.

Still, he was glad that his brother's favorite hobby and lifestyle had never faltered once since arriving to the new school. However, recently, he had noticed the increased amount of spending on the groceries and extra items. It didn't make sense, but the amount of money Tsuna spent was enough for two people…That wasn't possible…was it? He hummed to himself, maybe his little brother had finally found someone to be with? It was possible.

With Tsuna's kind hearted nature, he was sure to find someone to stay with him or perhaps love? Dino grinned to himself at the thought and decided to call up the school to ask what was going on. The response he got from that was…odd. Apparently, they were saying that Vongola had given Tsuna a bodyguard which wasn't possible since he doubted his father or brother would ever do such a thing. It was odd in a sense.

And so, he packed up his things and went to visit.

60,000 yen = around $812

I'm not good with emotional settings…Damn it. But I tried my best. Hope it turned out alright.

How about a small deal? Within this new chapter and the next, if you're able to shoot the reviews count to 1000, yes, we're almost there, I'll upload a one-shot R27 story. Deal? It benefits you guys right :)

So review if you want to see that one-shot