Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I am simply borrowing the characters for this story. This fanfic will be as original as it can be. Similarities with other fanfics are not intended. The story is not related to any real story and similarities are simply coincidence. Reference to real life places are just to set the setting. This is strictly a work of fiction.
Warning: There might be a hint of shounen-ai. Also, OOC characters and dark theme.
The wind flapped the coat of his court attire, moving the chain connecting his pins indicating his status. The sun was glaring down at him but weirdly, he neither felt hot or cold.
The air was filled with the familiar stenches of blood and rotten corpses but the ground was clear with no signs of the aforementioned things. No matter how many times he looked around the place, he could not recognise it as any part of his or the nearby land. The land looked abandoned. Unclaimed.
The trees still stood tall but the sight of the claw-like branches suggested that it had been a while since the trees were full of life. In fact the whole stretches of land looked dead and empty with no signs of life at all.
A wry smile came to his face.
If the landscape did not alert him that he was nowhere near his world, then the sight of the bright red sky did. It did not look like the red tinted sky he usually saw during dusk. The sky was literally painted blood red and he briefly wondered if the iron-like smell came from it.
Curious as to where he was, he took a step forward with every intention to survey the land more but before he could do anything, he immediately ducked his head in reflex as something flew dangerously close to his head. He felt something tickling his ear no doubt belonging to the new arrival. His head immediately snapped to the direction of the dark silhouette and found a man grinning down at him from one of the trees.
He could not help but compare the sight to the gothic paintings that decorated his library. The man was enclosed by darkness even as the red of the sky provided a stark contrast against him. There was a majestic air around the man accompanied by an aura so suffocating that he felt his own hair rose in response. The man's hair was the shade of the purest of ebony with a pair of distinctive curly sideburn and his dark eyes were promising all kinds of mischief. There were black appendages on the man's back splayed for the entire world to see even as he crouched onto the deceptively thin branch. Wings, he noted.
"Well, well, well. Look what the cat brought in after all these while."
He lifted his head slightly in response, finding the appropriate angle to gaze straight at the man without having to strain his neck. The man drank inthe gesture with unconcealed mirth, finding the brunet's lack of fear amusing.
"This isn't an ordinary dusk," he responded. "Where am I?" he softly asked but the demand in his voice was loud.
The winged man barely reacted but he could see the slight stretching of his already wide grin. "Is that a favour I hear?"
"A favour?"
"A favour," the man confirmed. "Information itself is a favour and it doesn't come without a price. Not in this place." His wings moved playfully, his face depicting the boredom he was experiencing as if he had been answering the same question over and over again. He jumped down and appeared in front of him in less than a second, his face so close that he could smell his clean breath. "What can you offer me?" he drawled.
He did not flinch, not even as he stared deep into the bottomless orbs of the winged man. He breathed.
"I would be able to offer you something if I know at all what I have to offer in the first place," he answered truthfully. He looked down at himself, noticing that he had nothing on his person except for the clothes that he was wearing. He looked at the other man who he now realized was actually wearing a yellow dress shirt on top of a black dress pants. He wondered how he could not have seen the striking colour in the first place.
The man smirked, his eyes filled with mischief. "I will not ask for anything much. I want access to your land, King Sawada Tsunayoshi."
He just stared, not at all surprised that the man knew of his name. The man's eyes were filled to the brim with knowledge and confidence that made Tsuna wonder the extent of it. He spent only three seconds thinking about it before he nodded his assent, deciding to simply take the risk.
The man's lips stretched to a more unnatural wide grin, displaying his teeth. He backed away and counted on his fingers. He counted up to five before he met Tsuna's gaze again. "It seems like I owe you five information for the price that you've paid."
Tsuna's eyes narrowed. He remembered that he only asked for one favour and had prudently thought that the price that he paid was for that one piece of information.
The man seemed to enjoy the realization dawning on him and just smirked. His forefinger went up first. "Now, to answer your question. This place is a special dimension, you can say, for your kind. But of course, not only Kings are in here. Anyone who ended up becoming part of the political plays may end up dwelling here in this dimension too."
Tsuna blinked at the information, still not comprehending anything. He opened his mouth but was stopped by the man's finger on his lips.
"Shh," he grinned. "You paid for that one question only. Unless you have some other method to pay me with, then I suggest that you should shut your mouth." He chuckled darkly. "How much you pay will only determine the number of information I will be giving you in return for that very question." When he saw that the brunet was not going to say anything, he pulled his finger and frowned, the glint in his eyes betraying his expression. "Looks like you've just wasted my time. That'll cost you the price for one piece of information." He pushed out two more fingers, taking great amusement from the brunet's glower. "Three," he drawled slowly, almost chuckling at the look the brunet gave him. "There is a game being played. You'll be given all your wealth and riches as you previously owned and continue the power play that you used to live for to rise above all in this realm and," a fourth finger went up, "if you refuse to play the game, well, you will find that out yourself soon enough."
Tsuna waited with bated breath when the final finger went up.
"And the last one….Let me think of what left I can tell you," he feigned a thinking pose with a hand under his chin before grinning. "Ahh, you're dead. So to put it short, this is your afterlife. A version of Hell for your kind."
The brunet's eyes widened but his lips twitched.
The dark-haired man looked satisfied with that reaction. Without waiting for the information to settle in, he continued, "We haven't gotten a new player for centuries, at least not someone of your status." His wing twitched. "With the ruckus that you caused, I wouldn't doubt that every single being in this realm is now alerted of your arrival, King Tsunayoshi of House Sawada."
"And yet you're the only one who came," Tsuna commented.
The man's eyes narrowed for the first time, not caring that the insult was probably unintentional.
"But there is probably a reason for that," Tsuna then continued, not wanting to push away the winged man who, right now, held all the answers to all the questions in his head.
"Only a number can enter this place and I am one of them. Where we are now is a place of limbo. The only beings that would be unaffected will be my kind and the newcomers. Look up," he commanded and Tsuna did so without question. "The red sky is poison to the others and to you once you leave this place."
Tsuna heard the underlying threat within the man's voice but kept silent.
The man took a step closer. "I'm here to bring you to cross to the other side."
The man wrapped his arms around him and the next thing he knew they were flying.
AN: Erm, I'm not supposed to start this but I had to.
Kindly review and let me know what you think!