A/N: Damn. So many reviews and love. Sorry if I gave any of you nightmares. Heh. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and read this so far! All of your responses made me cry happy tears :"D
xRinyukix...Killing you? Don't die before reading this chapter lol By the way…I loved that song :D
Final Syai Lunar Generation…you are the second person to practically read my mind but since I pride myself on unpredictability I will be doing something slightly different from your guesses. Death can lead to love. It's possible. Again…thank you everyone :) I hope to keep exceeding your expectations.
Rating: T-M (Language (Gokudera), Violence, and gore, blood etc all that fun stuff
Disclaimer: This is ridiculous. I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn but I do own the plot of this story. Nya.
Desperation is like stealing from the Mafia: you stand a good chance of attracting the wrong attention. – Douglas Horton
The Loveless Spirit
Literally staring death in the face was certainly a time for reflection. But in this case Tsuna couldn't even get his mind to stop screaming what sounded like Hibari Kyouya from school back home to "Run Herbivore! Run!"
He and his friends were the fear stricken Herbivores and the Obake, Reborn, was the Predator. Well…Ryohei had this crazy manic gleam in his eyes he gets when he sees someone worth fighting. Just as Tsuna was about to somehow restrain Ryohei from doing something stupidly extreme, Reborn's dark eyes flashed at his miniscule movement.
"Move and I will not hesitate to send you to God," Reborn murmured, dangerously suave. Tsuna froze. No one dared to move, and everyone gave a silent sigh of relief when Ryohei seemed to think for once and remained put.
Reborn smirked, lowering the gun to his side. He seemed to float slightly as he paced the hall towards them. He spread his long, elegant fingers outward as though gesturing towards something that Tsuna couldn't see.
"I see my acting skills have surpassed me…I must say that your reactions were quite…amusing, Reborn said silkily, giving a small chuckle. Tsuna noticed his friends were as frightened as he was. This gave him pause. They were always the ones to bravely protect him from gangs and bullies while he stood there afraid.
'Perhaps…perhaps if it comes to that…' Tsuna thought, closing his eyes tightly.
That was a mistake.
Tsuna felt his breath become frigid and his heart race as he felt a cold finger caress his cheek. He didn't dare open his eyes. The finger disappeared.
Tsuna cracked his eyes to see Reborn's face right in front of his, his dark eyes piercing his own.
"Hiiie!" Tsuna shrieked, stumbling back into Gokudera who held onto him. Reborn's handsome face morphed into a hideous scowl before becoming impassive.
"You remind me so much of what I had desired…and of what I had lost." His voice sent chills down Tsuna's spine. It had a faint accent to it.
"Now that you have witnessed my true form, I must kill you…however-Reborn paused to look over Tsuna, smirking- I am willing to compromise…of course you don't have a choice in the matter," Reborn continued slyly, fingering his gun.
"What the fuck do you want from us?" Gokudera growled, tightening his hold on Tsuna.
"Gokudera!" Tsuna hissed, mortified. Reborn gave a small shrug.
"Your willing compliance before I decide to change my mind on the importance of your lives," Reborn replied, still not taking his eyes off Tsuna. Tsuna shifted nervously under his intense gaze.
Turning his head slightly he saw that Kyoko and Haru looked either ready to pass out from fear or the blood rushing to their heads from Reborn's appearance. Yamamoto looked unusually serious which was unnerving in and of itself. Ryohei was cracking his knuckles and in the tense silence it grated on Tsuna's nerves.
"W-what d-do you w-want?," Tsuna stuttered. He really was terrified but if he could help save his friend's lives he didn't care if he showed fear.
Reborn remained silent, the fedora casting his face in shadow. Then he slowly tilted his head. Tsuna had a sneaking suspicion that he was amused.
"What I was denied…you," Reborn replied huskily. Tsuna was suddenly shoved behind Gokudera.
"Like I will hand him over to a rotten, dirty bastard like you!" he snarled, flipping out what Tsuna had hoped he left at home. Tsuna hurriedly grabbed Gokudera's arm. "No! If you throw those we will die!" Tsuna cried.
Gokudera seemed to struggle internally before a sudden gunshot cracked the silence. Kyoko and Haru screamed. Ryohei and Yamamoto jumped, startled.
A few strands of silver hair fell to the ground, the bullet nearly hitting Gokudera's head to hit the wall behind him.
"Now, now…no violence please…lets discuss this as gentlemen," Reborn ordered, an infuriating little smile quirking his lips. He seemed to disregard the girls as unimportant. 'The nerve.' Tsuna thought, frowning. Gokudera angrily shoved his dynamite back into his jacket. Tsuna could tell he was shaken.
Reborn circled them like a wolf around its prey.
"Are any of you aware of something referred to as a Mukei Teiketsu?" he asked, swiftly appearing next to Tsuna, who jumped.
"An S-spiritual C-contract?" Tsuna said, flinching when Reborn started to rub his strands of caramel colored hair between his fingers. "Yes…do you happen to know what it entails?" Reborn questioned, looking down at him. Tsuna blushed. He could see Gokudera seething.
"Umm…" Tsuna trailed off. Reborn seemed to sigh, stepping away from Tsuna.
"Dame-Tsuna…-Tsuna gasped at his old nickname-it means that for me to spare your lives you must sign and adhere to the Mukei Teiketsu to become a spirit bound to the Earth to the contractor…you will live if only in spirit," Reborn explained, smirking at their horrified expressions.
'How…how did he know that name? Coincidence?' Tsuna wondered.
"We might as well die!" Haru cried.
"I could still arrange that if it is to your preference," Reborn suggested casually. Haru shook her head frantically.
Ryohei suddenly darted forward at Reborn while it seemed his attention was elsewhere, cocking back a fist ready to punch him. Reborn's eyes flashed as he slid around Ryohei's lightening fast attack with relative ease.
Reborn lifted a hand clenching it into a loose fist. Ryohei's eyes widened as he was suddenly sent flying into the wall. 'I didn't even see him move…EXTREME!' was his last thought before he blacked out. Tsuna was stunned. In his whole life he has never seen Ryohei miss.
Kyoko cried out and ran to over her brother.
Yamamoto was gaping. Haru went over to Kyoko to help and calm her down. Gokudera was shaking in anger.
Reborn tsked. "That was foolish...but I commend him for having guts," Reborn murmured softly.
"H-how are you solid?" Tsuna finally asked, his curiosity overriding his fear for a moment. He worried about Ryohei but knew he would be fine. Hopefully.
Reborn turned his unnervingly intense gaze back on him.
"Obake are a different form of spirit…while I am considered dead I have the ability of shape shifting which is a physical art…call it a God's curse or the Devil's blessing if you will," he replied.
"I-I see…" Tsuna mumbled.
"I find it entertaining that you naturally assumed I would be the contractor…judging by your friends' violent reactions," Reborn said, shaking his head slowly. "Other spirits cannot be contractors…I can make it but I cannot make the living sign it…rather I pick someone I desire to live to do so," he said, looking at Tsuna.
Tsuna didn't like where this was going.
It was either die in the middle of nowhere in this old deserted farm house or become spirits bound forever to the Earth. His friends didn't deserve either.
"Of course…Dame-Tsuna shall be the one to remain human," Reborn said. He suddenly raised a hand, a light blue glow erupting into flames to create a long piece of black paper with silvery cursive depicting the words of the contract.
Tsuna looked frantically at his friends who gave him shaky, reassuring smiles. "If it is you we will be bound to then I don't mind," Kyoko murmured. His other friends gave him firm nods of agreement. "I want to protect you forever like you once saved me Tsuna," Gokudera said, eyes flaring icy green.
"How…touching but if you don't take this quill and sign in the next fifteen seconds I'll shoot you…consider it a game," Reborn threatened. They all scrambled for the quill floating between Reborn's fingers, hurriedly signing their names. "What about my brother? He can't sign it!" Kyoko said, looking desperately at Ryohei's immobile form. Everyone except Ryohei had it signed.
"Seven seconds," Reborn said disinterestedly. Kyoko hurriedly signed her brother name. The contract glowed before disappearing into Reborn's black suit jacket.
"You are lucky little girl…if you weren't a blood relative who signed his name he would've died for sure," Reborn said. Kyoko looked ready to pass out. Haru steadied her. Tsuna suddenly realized something.
This felt akin to making a deal with the devil.
'Oh my god…I'm such an idiot!' he mentally screamed.
"But I won't live forever! How will that work?" Tsuna asked, panicking.
Reborn's smirk grew bigger. It could almost be considered a smile if it wasn't so cruel.
"Ah…that's my favorite part of this contract…the contractor must bind their soul to mine seeing as how I'm a superior being to gain eternal life…because if you die your friends will die and be sent to Hell for even signing this forbidden contract," Reborn said sinisterly. "I'll hazard a guess that you wished you had read it in full now, hmm?"
Tsuna blanched. His friends were all pale excluding Ryohei who was still unconscious. 'He didn't give us time to read it! If we had tried to read it then time would've ran out and he would've shot us!' Tsuna thought, horrified.
'I just bonded my soul to an evil Obake.' Tsuna thought, feeling woozy.
Yamamoto suddenly spoke up. "What's the difference between a spirit and a soul anyways?"
Reborn looked like he deciding whether or not to answer.
"Hmm…a soul is just a manifestation of your personality that dies when your physical body dies…a spirit is something that can be anchored to the world much like your physical body was only transparent and untouchable in most cases," Reborn replied, sounding much like a tutor.
"So in a sense…I am Tsunayoshi's spirit and he is my soul…ironic, no? Because he cannot become a spirit and I have no soul."
Sudden screams ripped through the air. Tsuna whirled around watching in terror as his friends writhed in agony. It was like they were dying. Their skin melted away before a blinding flash of light exploded throughout the dark farm house.
Reborn was chuckling lowly as though he was watching a comedy.
Then the light disappeared, leaving behind the transparent forms of his friends. Tsuna stumbled over to Gokudera and tried to touch his shoulder. His hand passed through it.
'I-it really happened.' Tsuna thought in disbelief. It defied all logical reasoning. Everything that had happened so far had.
In a way he was being selfish. He didn't want his friends to die but had doomed them to a crueler fate. He hoped they could forgive him.
Reborn stood a few feet away, watching him. Tsuna felt fiery anger for a second before it died. He never could really mad. Even at those who deserve it. In a way he felt sorry for Reborn.
One by one his friends started to stir, even Ryohei. Poor Ryohei didn't even know what happened. Tsuna felt tears fill his eyes. He would understand if they didn't love him anymore. He would deserve it.
"Tsuna? What's the matter?" Gokudera asked, concerned. He tried to touch him but it passed through his body. Looking saddened, Gokudera lowered his hand.
"It's alright Tsuna…we don't hate you…we never could," Yamamoto whispered, looking down at his body in bemusement. "Well said for once baseball idiot," Gokudera muttered. Tsuna felt a giggle try to claw its way up his throat. His friends would never change in personality. Kyoko was hugging her brother.
Apparently spirits could touch other spirits. That was a small relief.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EXTREME? I'M EXTREMELY SEE THROUGH! Ryohei yelled, a fire burning in his eyes.
"Brother…we are spirits now," Kyoko said quietly. She filled him in. "Eh...EXTREME!" he shouted. Everyone face palmed except Reborn who was studying his fingernails dispassionately. Haru seemed to still be digesting what just happened. Then she sighed.
"Well…so much for a vacation," she grumbled. Tsuna had forgotten all about that. What with their lives being in danger and all.
Reborn started walking towards the front door. "Hey! Where are you going?" Gokudera asked. He didn't turn around when he replied.
"I don't feel inclined to remain in this hovel much longer…follow if you wish but don't annoy me."
Gokudera scowled. Yamamoto laughed and clasped Gokudera's shoulder. "Calm down there Gokudera," he said.
"I don't want to stay in here any longer either…its creepy," Haru said, giving a shudder.
"Let's go then," Tsuna said, smiling at them softly. They followed Tsuna who followed Reborn out of the house. Looking at it on the outside they noticed that it looked ready to fall apart. The windows shattered, the wood cracked, and the porch leaned dangerously close to the ground.
Once again they felt fear. Fear of Reborn, of what he could do, and what the future may now mean for them.
Reborn halted. "Dame-Tsuna…come here," he ordered. Quivering slightly, Tsuna approached him hesitantly. When he got close enough, Reborn suddenly bonked him on the head. Hard.
"Hiiie!" Tsuna cried, clutching his abused head. "That was for thinking so loud and giving me a headache," Reborn said simply before walking again. 'Jerk.' Tsuna thought, pouting. Reborn gave him a warning look. Tsuna cowered.
His friends looked on with slight amusement. Gokudera looked angry but knew better than to mess with Reborn. He could get his revenge in different ways. A manic grin grew on his lips.
They looked towards where they were going and gulped. They were heading up the dirt path towards the mansion.
Reborn's mansion.
Tsuna noticed the dark clouds that surrounded it haven't gone away.
A/N: Reborn could read thoughts in canon. Lol. So I thought since Reborn and Tsuna are technically connected in this story that it would be possible now. Explainable. As for how Reborn seemed to know Tsuna's old nickname…that was coincidence.
I hope this chapter was good…I have a few doubts but I desire to know of your opinions. R&R please :) If you do I'll be more inclined to keep up my current fast pace of updating. If not… well…it could be awhile. Heh. Tell me…did I write Reborn correctly? I hope so. Please tell me.
-Tragic