Title: Contract

By: Metamorcy

Rating: M

Pairing: Arcobaleno27, main R27

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

Now to mention some things from the reviews that I can answer. I would just reply to the reviews but some are asking the same thing so it was just better to do them here.

1. For the time being since there hasn't been much going on, I'm going to change the rating of this story to T unless it needs to remain M for the previous violence. If there is some development like *cough cough* then I'll change it back - this isn't related to the tattler for CU, I actually had plans for this

2. And for those that were mentioning about Tsuna not acting 21ish, you have to remember that Tsuna has been under a lot of abuse, one doesn't grow of out that easily. There's three ways those that had been abused turn out:

a. They grow out and move on to try and live happy lives. This one works best when the abused is removed from the situation or has support

b. They simply live with it and suppress their personality and feelings towards everything to simply exist with abuser so that they aren't punished. With this, despite escaping, they sometimes end up going back to an abusive partner and have the cycle of violence repeat once more because this is what is considered normal to their lives - the end-stage is where the abuser kills them either accidentally or purposefully.

c. They never grow out of it and become violent towards the rest of the world or suicidal

This isn't correct for everyone of course but these are the normal three routes that can occur and one can shift between them easily at any time. Tsuna is in the #b stage, he's been suppressed since young and as such, his personality has been as well. It may be vivid here and there but it was much darker in the beginning of the chapters. You also have to remember that despite not living with his so-called abusers, he's still shackled to them and there's also the bullies at school. He's slowly moving towards #a stage with Reborn's assistance, without him knowing of course, because he has that support he needs to keep going.

Please, if you see someone being abused or suspect it, report it immediately. Its better to be safe than sorry and you will remain anonymous throughout the entire investigation. There are hotlines and online sites where you can report such things. Children, Woman, and Elderly are the most often targets of abuse and there are 6 times: physical, emotional, verbal, mental, sexual, and financial. It is a crime to witness abuse and not report it!

3. Someone mentioned about me following the readers and allowing the tenth gen showing up too early. Actually, it didn't matter much to me if I had put them in before or after. It works either way. Their purpose will come later

4. As for the other Arcobaleno, they'll have their appearance.

Now then, after all this has been mentioned, please enjoy this chapter!

Beta'ed by WhiteAngel128 and saphire644

Chapter 25

Tsuna feared for the worst when his brother sat down at the other side of the table, purposely facing Reborn with their eyes matching each other within seconds. He could imagine the glaring, the arguments, everything, within a short-time frame and tried to focus on the food before him, hoping to use it to keep them distracted from each other. With that thought on mind, he tried to speed up the process of his cooking by turning up the heat. Still, regardless, the brunet wanted nothing more than to sigh in misery. Though he was technically twenty-one in age, he sometimes felt like he was younger around Reborn because of the way he got treated. But around two bickering people, he felt like he was actually the adult, looking down at them with those eyes a parent would give to their disobeying child. Of course, he was ignored immediately and the two amazingly remained quiet, not yet voicing their opinions.

Still, there was some glaring and it was an improvement compared to before when they appeared like they were about to wring each other's neck out of frustration and anger. The brunet quickly finished up the meal, something quick and small: fried rice. He added some sliced pieces of chicken and beef into the mix, green onions, carrots, peas, and eggs, stir-frying it altogether with oil and light soy sauce to make the perfect quick lunch. The wonderful smell of his cooking radiated around the room, the soy sauce sizzling at the heat, and it was like the two men behind him had relaxed at the thought of their stomachs being filled. Tsuna smiled, looks like his older brother was still fond of his cooking even after all these years. It was the only thing Giotto actually said something good about. But that might be because the cooks back home didn't exactly always cook what the older brother wanted, they were generally catering towards his parent's tastes with the fancy snails and fish dishes.

Scooping the fried rice onto three separate plates with an extra one on the side for Colonello, he carefully placed the plates in front of each person with a spoon on the side. Steam floated up from the mass array, fading when it got too high up into the air, and the smell emitted around the room wonderfully. Tsuna smiled. "Well, I hope you enjoy this meal. No fighting at the table all right?"

Giotto gave a small huff, turning his attention towards the dish before him, and peered up momentarily to observe Reborn. The raven simply ate without care, clearly enjoying his meal, and immediately gave a compliment towards his Capturer at how delicious it tasted. Tsuna just gave a tender smile in the Assurer's direction, a faint redness on his cheeks, and stuffed his mouth to prevent himself from stuttering or saying something stupid. Seeing all that before him, the blond gave in and began to eat, taking that first spoonful of rice to chew. There was a slight pause as he tasted the delicious food, taking in the even mixture with glee, trying to prevent himself from actually showing on his face, and licked his lips. He continued the pattern, no one really speaking to each other, all enjoying the temporary silence during meantime. Only the clicks of the spoon hitting the plates were heard and some chair movements for those that were getting up for something to drink or napkins.

'Well, so far so good,' Tsuna thought as he placed the cleared dishes into the sink, washing anything dirty to keep his kitchen clean. It always annoyed him whenever there was a mess. His eyes peered back at the two, who had gone back to glaring at each other, and sighed again. 'Maybe not. Well, at least they aren't attacking each other.'

Reborn peered up at the brunet for a moment and rubbed the bottom of his chin, deep in thought. There were a few things he needed to ask (demand) from the older sibling, but there was no way he could with Tsuna listening. This conversation must be private and having Tsuna eavesdropping in might give him ideas he didn't need to have or get information he didn't need to know about just yet. Therefore, a distraction was needed. But what would work? His eyes trailed over the entire place in an effort to brainstorm some plots. School was already out of the question, the house had been cleaned up, and groceries were fully stocked. There wasn't much he could get Tsuna to do…except for one thing. Well, Tsuna has always been a simple person. "Tsuna," The younger man peered over curiously, blinking his eyes. "Go take a shower; you look like you need it."

The brunet tilted his head in confusion, looking down at himself to check, but found nothing wrong. "Huh? No, I'm okay." Shaking his head to deny the accusation, Tsuna peered worriedly between the two.

Giotto, catching on to what Reborn was trying to do, snapped his eyes up to help further the distraction. "Tsuna, go take a shower. We'll be fine here, there's something we need to talk about."

'I have a feeling this is about me.' Tsuna sighed. "And I can't be included?"

"No."

Sighing again, the younger sibling glanced towards Reborn as well, who was nodding his head in confirmation. "I…see. Fine, I don't know what you two are planning, but I expect no violence or yelling. The moment I hear something funny, I'm coming out immediately. But Reborn," He stepped closer to the raven in concern. "You will tell me what's going on later, right?"

"Of course." If Reborn had his fedora on, he would have tilted it by habit, but it was on the table where it had been placed. Instead, he kept his arms crossed against his chest.

"Fine." With that, having no choice, Tsuna went into the bedroom to grab a change of clothes. It was still silent and he expected it to be, seeing as they were waiting for him to disappear into the bathroom. Stepping inside, he locked the door behind and twisted the knob in the shower to get it running. With that going on, he could no longer hear what was going outside anymore, only the pitter-pattering of the water hitting the floor. There was no doubt that it sucked being left out, knowing that the conversation was going to be about him, and he didn't like it. But for now, he'd allow it to happen. He trusted Reborn after all. 'Still, he had better tell me what's going on later or else I'm not going to be cooking for him for the next few days.'

"Giotto," Reborn spoke the moment he knew Tsuna can no longer hear, though he couldn't help but feel a small suppressed shiver run down his spine. He felt the thoughts of a threat from his Capturer, what it was exactly, he wasn't sure. But Reborn has a strong on what it's about. Damn, and he liked eating Tsuna's food too. His eyes momentarily glanced down his contract tattoo on his right arm and raised an eyebrow at it before turning back to the blond. "I need to ask you something."

The blond Capturer snorted, folding his arms across his chest, and leaned back against his seat. He still looked disgruntled at having to actually talk to the raven, his pride still hurt from his easy defeat, and the Assurer kept constantly making sure that the two siblings were never alone. "And I should answer because?"

"Because you're the only one that probably know more about Tsuna's condition. If I had a choice, I wouldn't be asking."

Giotto hummed to himself, sipping onto the tea his brother had made for him to keep the room silent, his mind going over the pros and cons of going along with this conversation. In the end, the pros won out and he nodded his head. For him, it was a good chance to find out what was going on between his brother and this Assurer.

"You wield the heaven element, the rarest and most powerful of all the attributes, is there any chance it could have been passed on?" Reborn immediately started, staring at the blond with heavy eyes, watching and observing for any movement or indication of lies. The other simply stared back, a little startled, but nodded his head. "Then what is the ability you gained out of that element?"

Giotto narrowed his eyes at that, almost glaring, he is a business man. He knew when there was something suspicious going on. "I'll tell you what you need to know if you tell me what you know. Deal?" The raven nodded to that, he needed evidence to work with before making any decisions. There was something odd going on with Tsuna and he wanted to find out. And a last resort is to consult with Verde, something he didn't want to do at all, especially not involve Tsuna. "My grandfather, our bloodline in a sense, wields the heaven element, he gained the ability to see through everything, something akin to intuition, but much stronger. It had helped him make the Vongola so successful during the time he had taken over. It wasn't passed on to my father sadly, which may have been a good thing because that man was an idiot, but to me since I gained the same ability and more. I was able to use the heaven element in combat by making it appear on my hands and forehead. This allowed me to fight alongside my Assurers. Apparently, somewhere along our family line, a Capturer and Assurer fell in love and produced a child that was in-between, so in other words, we can be considered half-breeds. But for how it occurred, no one really knows, it was a long time ago and most of our blood now has been diluted out by the human part of us. However, some bloods in each generation are stronger than others like in my case and others weaker or nonexistent like Dino's case."

The raven nodded to that, it wasn't impossible for things like that to occur, the interracial marriage. Since many of those that could wield magic at one point had Assurer blood within them, but due to remaining on Earth and marrying to the humans, the blood began to disappear, weakened to the point where it was almost nonexistent if it wasn't already. As to how these marriages occurred, it was normally between Capturer and Assurer relations that went beyond just normal partners. "Then it wouldn't be impossible for Tsuna to wield the heaven element as well."

Those words made Giotto freeze to his spot, blinking momentarily before looking right up. A dark passing look slipped through the cracks of his mask. "What do you mean?"

"I believe Tsuna has the ability to see the future," The blond was staring, looking like everything was crumbling down, though Reborn just smirked at the widening of those bright blue eyes. It was clear the other hadn't been expecting such a thing and just seeing that expression made him want to laugh. "Did Tsuna have nightmares often in the past?"

The blond nodded, trying to collect himself. "Yes, he had them many times when we were younger and still continues to do so. The doctors couldn't figure out why and we tried many different medications to make him sleep peacefully, but they all failed. My father, Iemitsu, he…" Giotto stopped at that, not wanting to continue on, but Reborn's desire for information was the tradeoff he needed to do. "Look, you're not to tell anyone about this, not even Dino knows about it, but it shouldn't matter now, considering no one would ever believe you. My father used to slip Tsuna sleeping pills back when he was younger to keep him asleep, either in his food or his drinks. It would work and my brother wouldn't wake up for the entire night."

Reborn almost broke the glass his fingers were gripping tightly against, a large crack appearing down it. Smaller ones seeped around the pressure points where the finger pads were at and the palm of his hand, not yet breaking all the way through. A dark sneer passed his lips. To get out of a nightmare, the only way was to wake up, and if Tsuna couldn't then…he had been trapped within them for hours, unable to escape until the medication weaned off. Well, that would explain some of the trauma.

"It no longer happened after four years since we moved Tsuna's room far away from everyone and now here in this school. If he did start screaming, no one would hear it," Giotto sighed, keeping his face straight, never revealing an ounce of emotion. "Let's move on. I know you have other things to ask and I'd rather not stay on this subject."

The raven was tempted to hit the other before him, to give a good punch to the nose, to beat that emotionless face off, and even more so, kill Iemitsu for being the asshole he was. "Fine," That word was grinded out, filled with evil intent, and a promise of destruction. "Did you ever notice that Tsuna generally had nightmares before something terrible happened?"

This made Giotto pause again, his eyes narrowing as he thought back into the past, and rubbed his chin carefully. He was thinking back, trying to remember the times Tsuna had come to him when they were children, crying about something he saw in a dream. But it was hard to remember simply because it had been so long ago and their father had already stepped in.

But… But there was one incident, no, two that seemed to stick out… 'Oh.' Reborn noticed the realization appearing in those sky blue eyes, surfacing. It would appear the other was figuring something out. "I…remember one incident. It was quite odd and I never thought much about it a long time ago. But if what you're telling me is true then I shouldn't be surprised," Giotto hesitated as the memories of long ago slipped back into his mind. "When we were younger, Tsuna only being around five, he had a terrible nightmare and woke up screaming. It wasn't something uncommon to happen so no one really paid much attention to him, but we listened regardless, it wasn't as if we couldn't. He kept saying something about a car, rain, and something red. We didn't know what he had meant and I ended up being forced to make him stop. My parents no longer cared about him by then, how could they when their youngest was always screaming and crying?"

The blond ignored the glare from the raven, suppressing the instinct to shiver. He would show no openings to the other.

"Anyway, he refused to calm down and began to cry louder, it took almost all night to get him to stop. It was annoying, but the moment he fell back asleep, it started up again and he woke up screaming," Giotto sighed, running a hand through his blond hair. "Two days later, our grandparents on our mother's side were killed in a car accident when their car lost control due to rain water, went hydroplaning, and crashed into the back of a truck. They were killed instantly," The blond rested for a moment, still thinking, and then nodded his head as if he was reassuring himself. "After that…Tsuna never had another nightmare until much later."

Reborn closed his eyes, reopening them for a moment to check Tsuna's position, making sure the brunet was still in the bathroom, before continuing. "Then it looks like what I guessed is true, Tsuna's dreams allow him to see the future coming from his Heaven element inheritance. It's the only element that could allow such a thing, no other element can. However, those dreams only appear when terrible things might occur to him or perhaps even to someone else, which is why they are in the form of nightmares. He had one a few days ago about snakes and we were able to connect later on to the Melislitters. Apparently, he must have dreamed of what would have happened if none of us had interfered."

"Melislitters are a family with snake-like appearances, yes?"

"Correct."

"I see." Giotto closed his eyes for a moment, thinking about the situation. He was already trying to identify if such an ability could help him in the business world, with Vongola and help improve its function, but if Tsuna can only identify that someone would get endangered then it was practically useless. It couldn't tell if someone was going to betray him or if the stocks were going to go down. All in all, it meant nothing. How useless.

Reborn could see the gears in the blond's head moving and was tempted to lash out, but he stopped, resisting the motion. It was best if he didn't. It was already clear that Giotto held no true malice towards the youngest sibling and it was best to keep it that way. "This is a personal question I've been wanting to ask for a long time. Why does your family hate Tsuna so much? Tsuna doesn't seem like the type of person that would purposefully make trouble for your family."

Giotto was tempted to groan loudly at that and took a deep breath, letting out as his shoulders slumped down. "I bear no hatred towards him; he's just an annoyance that if he stays out of my way, we won't bother each other. You are probably aware of Dino's adoration. As for the hatred, it's on our parent's side, Iemitsu and Timoteo mainly. My mother was influenced later by Iemitsu and was drowned in the thoughts of producing such a useless and freaky child as well. It ate her up from within leading her downhill. Iemitsu already had those thoughts long before anyone else and grandfather, Timoteo, once doted on Tsuna regardless of frequent nightmares." It was almost like a happy family with some issues here and there which wasn't uncommon. No family is perfect, every family has hatred, and every family has some love. It's a mix of everything.

Giotto kept going, it is the second incident, "But, there was an incidence in the past which truly changed everything. In a sense, it was the start of all the true hatred in our family. It was about a few months later after my mom's parents died that Tsuna had another nightmare. We were all having breakfast and he came busting in, screaming like normal. But this time, there was absolute terror in his eyes. Whatever nightmare he had that time was clear enough that he had seen what had actually happened and still remembered it clearly. He warned my father's mother, Timoteo's wife, about it in front of everyone. He told her that he had a nightmare where she was going to be killed, where she had been stabbed like those in the horror films we used to watch. All of us had heard it, but no one believed it like usual. It wasn't until two days later when Grandma went out to grab some new clothes for herself that it happened. The police came to our place and told us what had happened. It was the start of the chaos. Apparently, she had been found in a ditch, miles away from where she was murdered. She had multiple stab wounds, about thirty-six in total, over the chest and abdomen. The eyes had been ripped out, the hair shaved off, the feet amputated and found not too far away, the skin on her face torn out, the skull cracked open with the brain lying beside her, and she was lying there naked for the world to see. It was the work of a serial killer, who was found and killed on site after a few more bodies later. But no one, and I mean no one, could look at him normally after that. Years passed and Dino warmed up to Tsuna and I went on my merry way, but the rest of the family couldn't. Things began to combine together and fall apart."

Reborn stared for a few moments, remaining silent as he tried to process everything. It was too much and the incident just had to be the one to set everything off. He promptly kicked the table, listening to it rattle under the force. He hadn't expected for such a history to be the cause of the family problems towards Tsuna. But if that was the case, then it made things a lot more sense. "Damn…And the family never outgrew it."

"We kept up our appearances, most of the world didn't remember much less know that there is a third sibling, and we never let him show up at parties. And eventually, those that knew about Tsuna forgot about him. The only ones that knew about his relation were those that saw him in school."

The raven almost let out a frustrated growl, his hatred towards everything growing. "Then you shouldn't care that I plan on taking Tsuna with me to my world, far away from your family and their influence."

Giotto just shrugged his shoulders without a care; it was like he wasn't bothered by the idea of his younger brother disappearing for the rest of his life away from him. "That's fine with me; I'd rather have him not in this world anyway. The only ones that might have an issue with that are my father and grandfather. They might not be so pleased since they can no longer control the youngest," The blond huffed, "I take it that you got the idea from my older brother, Dino? He's been plotting for a long time about getting Tsuna away. He shares them with me since he knows I'm better at such things than he is and that I won't tattle."

"Even with Dino's involvement, I had every intention of stealing him away."

"I see, well then, you have my approval," Giotto gave a smirk and shifted slightly in his seat. "But before doing so, I'd like Tsuna to sign something before he goes."

"Sign?" Reborn narrowed his eyes at that in suspicion and unfolded his arms to lean against the table. "About what?"

"This is simply to reassure myself that there will be no future conflicts. It's a document that will detail Tsuna giving up his entire right to the companies our family is involved in. I don't want any issues later on when Tsuna comes in trying to claim a portion of the place. I doubt he would, but the future can change him or someone can come in trying to influence him."

"That should be fine with me. Tsuna has never been interested in the business world and if he stays with me, money wouldn't be an issue. My friends and I have more than enough to take care of him for a long time."

Nodding, Giotto folded his arms and stood up momentarily to get something to drink despite the tea he still had in front of him, which had gotten cold by now. He fumbled through the cabinets until he came to a clean glass and filled it with ice and water from the freezer side of the refrigerator. Taking a good sip, he let out a content sigh in relief before turning back to Reborn. "That's good then I leave him with you. If you take Tsuna away and have him sign the document, I'll keep my family off of him for the time being to the best of my ability. But just a warning, they can get quite persistent, especially my father."

The raven just smirked in amusement, his threatening aura clear as day to anyone. "I'd like to see him try. I took care of you and your Assurers, I can do the same to him. And your father is only human with nothing backing him power-wise."

"That is true, but if he gets desperate enough, things can happen," The Capturer just shrugged his shoulders to show that he didn't care much. He sat back down, placing the glass onto the table with a coaster underneath to protect the wood table. "But whatever, I do doubt he could stop you though considering the difference in strength."

At that moment, the door to the bathroom opened, a small head poking out curiously. The two at the table turned their attention towards the brunet, eyes watching the other curiously. Tsuna had just stepped out of the shower, feeling refreshed, and yet despite the time he took, he hadn't once felt a shift in the air. There was no cursing, no crashes, nothing, and he was concerned about that. It made him twitchy and uncomfortable, but even with that sensation flooding throughout his body; he didn't feel anything dangerous going on. Could the two really be having a conversation that didn't involve verbal or physical threats? How odd. With a towel around his shoulders to prevent his shirt from getting wet by his still-wet hair, he opened the door to take a look into the kitchen and stared back at the two pairs of eyes. Nothing. There was nothing wrong going on. And that was a strange sight to see.

Then Giotto stood up, strapping his cape around his shoulder. "Well then, I'd better get going. I see that I got what I needed and I have work to do. I'd rather not have my paperwork stacking up on me." There was a momentary twitch of annoyance, a crack within the blond's mask. Reborn couldn't help but let out a snort in amusement, finding it funny how the thought of paperwork could make the other fall apart. Was paperwork really that much of a nightmare? Good thing he never had to deal with any.

Tsuna immediately ran forward, catching himself right on time when he tripped, and rounded his older brother. "Ah, wait, Giotto," The older sibling waited, letting out a small 'hmm' from the back of his throat, and twisted around to look down at the youngest. "Do you want to take some snacks with you? It's a long trip back to the company, right? You'll get hungry."

Giotto raised his hand and waved. "No, I'll be fine. Do not be concerned with me. I am always prepared for such a case," Refusing to say anything else, he made his way over to the front door, letting out a slight wince when he tried to move his abdomen. The damage from his battle with Reborn was still there and he needed to be medically treated before something within his body stretched a little too much. 'Ah, better get Knuckle to heal me when I get into the car.' He gave a small hiss and touched the doorknob, creaking the door open. But before actually leaving, the blond rotated around one last time to look at the two. "Reborn, remember what I said, alright? Tsuna knows my personal cellphone number for whenever you're ready. If you cannot get to me at that time, then Dino will be your next best bet."

Nodding, Reborn is well aware of the confused look the brunet is sporting, looking between the two in question. It was clear he was going to be asked plenty of questions later on. When Giotto closed the door behind him, the raven turned his attention to his Capturer and was tempted to sigh, running a hand through his hair. Those large honey-colored eyes were sometimes hard to resist and in his attempt in misdirecting that gaze, he flicked the forehead. A small 'eep' escaped the brunet's lips, slamming his eyes closed shut, and Reborn immediately stepped away, smirking the entire time. "I'll tell you later. But don't be too concerned about it. It's simply a deal that when I take you away to my place, he wants you to sign a waiver that you don't want to be involved with the family affairs."

"Oh…" Tsuna paused for a moment, his mind working on those words. He knew what it meant if he signed such a thing and he knew the consequences. But it didn't matter much to him, power and money meant nothing. Sure, it helped him live comfortably, but it wasn't exactly needed, not if he was planning on staying with Reborn and the others. Giving out a small smile, he nodded his head. "That's fine with me. I'd rather not get involved."

"Good," Reborn gave another flick to the forehead, hearing another startled 'eep' from the other. "Now, since you were going to make Giotto snacks, I'd like to have some."

"Yes, yes."

Not much going on sadly but this chapter was mostly information that needed to be told. We finally have some details about Tsuna and his past. Yay!

And if anyone is not certain about Giotto's personality in this one, think of him as I've previously mentioned within the story as a business man. He doesn't exactly hates Tsuna but he doesn't love him either. Its more of, if you leave him alone, he'll do the same. And for letting Tsuna leave, as a business man, it benefits him greatly since that means he doesn't have to worry about someone backstabbing him from behind for profit or have to worry in the future about him younger sibling coming back to demand for equal share of the business.

Just like last chapter, the deal is still going on. Whenever I hit 2000 reviews, I'll write another R27 one-shot/multi-chapter to post up (go to my profile page to see which one it might be) and for a special for my fateful reviewers. And the one who is the 2000th reviewer gets to choose whichever story they want me to update next or write a one-shot for them. I'm giving two options because there are some pairings I just don't write and just want to put it up just in case.

P.S. if someone has the free time, could someone read over the entire story and make sure that I'm not disconnecting something or accidentally skipped over something? Like I said something in the past which doesn't match up with the present. Of course, there are some things that haven't been mentioned yet since that's for the future plot. Thanks!

Please review, they make me happy :)