Lapse 1

"While a lapse in judgement itself is often harmless, a simple mistake if you will, it often birthed from it are far grander sins."

Reborn sat, face propped against the table in front of him and fingers clutching the coffee mug as a lifeline while Verde continued to ramble to himself about various scientific mumbo-jumbo pertaining to demon summoning. He didn't need to know about what body-part glowed when during the process and he didn't care about the power released when the portal opened. All he cared about was getting Verde to shut up because it was way too goddamn early for this shit.

"So whatcha doing?"

The voice close to Reborn's ear resulted in a twitch of epic proportions and a growing desire to just pull his gun on everybody near him, Luce's punishment be damned. Not only did he have to contract a demon, but he couldn't get rid of it. Not until the time in which the contract ended.

Now the demon would occasionally disappear from time to time, but he couldn't stay gone for long periods of time. It was as per some obscure set of laws set forth for demons. When Reborn made the mistake of trying to question further, all he received for his trouble was a yawn and a careless, "You don't need to know the specifics." From there, the hitman learned one of the first things about his demon. It was elusive when it came to questions it didn't want to or feel like answering.

"Resisting the urge to blow your brains out.."

"Well that doesn't sound very nice…"

"I never said I was nice,"

All Reborn got for his comment was a pout-like frown on its face.

"I didn't ask to summon you, so I'd appreciate it if you try to not make me contemplate homicide anymore than I already do,"

"Well you summoned me, whether you wanted to or not. Not only that, but you went through with the contract, so you are stuck with me. And hey! I haven't even done anything to warrant the threat!" The demon finally cried out indignance, face contorting into an expression like a kicked puppy that was almost too cute for it's own good..

Wait! I'm a goddamn hitman for Christ's sake. I don't think of anything as cute! Reborn lamented with a grimace as his eyes roved over the demon. Last night it was far too dark and he was long exhausted by the time the demon came, resulting in him letting loose a good two rounds into the demon. But now, in the bright fluorescence of Verde's lab he could truly get a good look.

Two golden honey eyes sat under soft spiky brown bangs, only for the hair to swoop away and up, sticking suspended as if kept in place by countless bottles of hairspray. Two thin black horns curled from the tops of its pointed ears, only to twist back and down for the tips to practically meet near the base of its skull. Its frame was small and thin, packed with lean muscle hidden by the simply chained black cargo pants and pale orange button down. A few buttons in it was left free to expose the very same contract brand that Reborn had resting on his left hip nestled on the juncture of its neck and collarbone. All in all, the demon looked just a few shades closer to cute than handsome, but with some redeeming hot qualities.

No sooner did Reborn finish cataloging the demon did the demon notice the stares, particularly at its inhuman features, and move to conceal them with whatever unholy illusion it conjured up. Even after the illusion settled itself in place, it still looked like a 14 year old boy only without the horns, the pointed ear, and eyes that now were a few shades closer to pure hazel.

"Better?"

"I wasn't complaining in the first place," Reborn rebutted.

"Well either way it was only a matter of time before I had to blend i-EEK!" The demon squeaked at Verde stuck it without a needle without warning, drawing blood from it to do whatever it is that Verde does. But the very reaction from the demon itself made Reborn struggle to hold back a chuckle. As soon as the surprise faded, the demon's eyes sharpened and it began to glare wholeheartedly at Verde. There was almost something scary about it, which made the situation all the more amusing. Who wouldn't find the humor in a teenage demon giving the scientist the stinkeye.

"Well thats my cue Verde. You can play with it later. Right now I should go ahead and inform Luce I have a demon staying with me. As amusing as I'd like to see her try and kill it, there would be a big mess left after,"

With that the hitman rose up with a grace born of constant training, and took to the stairs without another word. He didn't even truly see the point in telling the demon to follow him, supposing it would just go ahead anyway. And sure enough, it did.

"I'm not an it…" the demon mumbled, "I'm a HE. A male,"

"So what's your name 'He',"

"I go by many names. You can call me Mercy. Or if you can come up with a better one that that, be my guest," suddenly all the hostility drained out of it, erm him, as though that simple implication that Reborn would refer to him as a 'he' instead of an 'it' made everything better. But of all names, to call a demon Mercy was perhaps the most ironic of any.

"Okay 'Mercy', I'm Reborn. Now that that is out of the way, before we go meet my friends I have to lay down a few ground rules,"

Suddenly the larger shape turned to block the small one's path. Two onyx eyes peered out from the shadow of the fedora as a grand killing intent was released as if to threaten the demon. Funny enough, despite Mercy's weak appearance, he seemed hardly fazed.

"Let me guess. No killing anyone without your permission and other things of that nature? I'm a bit different than some of the demons you have encountered before, Hunter,"

Reborn's eyes narrowed at that comment.

"How did you know I was a Hunter?"

"I'm not stupid. I could smell the magic in your veins. All Hunter's get inoculated against any diseases they could possibly get from coming into contact with feral demons. While I guess normal human's probably could get it too, you also have some special anti-possession charms set on you. I doubt any regular human would have those," Mercy rattled off, his appearance still oddly relaxed despite identifying the human who contracted him as a someone who Hunted his kind.

"You are oddly calm for just learning the person who contracted you is your mortal enemy,"

"For one, the contract is only partial at the moment. For two, no you aren't,"

Those few words stunned Reborn.

"If memory serves me, Satan allows hunters to continue their work so long as they only target feral demons. They can't hunt and kill demons who haven't done anything. That was part of the pact that was made to allow humans to continue having access to the summoning without risking their souls," Mercy finished with hardly a change in expression. Meanwhile Reborn for once found himself wondering just who this demon was. What he just recited wasn't exactly common knowledge. So how on earth did this lowly demon know? And for another, what did he mean by the contract not being complete.

"Partial contract?"

"That is all you got from that or all you are deciding to acknowledge? Either way, for a Hunter, you are very ignorant on the matter of Contracting. I thought your order required you to know every aspect of human and demon interaction. No matter. You'll figure it out later. So, can we go now?" The voice echoed with slightly amusement as orange flickered in those honey depths, reminding the hitman/hunter just exactly where he was and what he was coming to do. Without wasting another moment, the raven-haired man pushed his way through the nearby door that lead into the dining room and right into the table of four currently indulging themselves in breakfast.

"Oh good morning Reborn. You're running later than usual. Did something come up?" A woman with dark blue-green hair that was practically black asked, lips quirked up into a kindly smile.

"Chaos, Luce. That is what I was coming to talk about. I'm sure you are aware of the bet and the results of it,"

"Why in fact I am. So you came to introduce you demon?"

Reborn responded with a slight nod of his head, before he quickly stepped out of the doorway to reveal Mercy. Mercy, who rather than lung or scheme or anything that any other demon he ever met did, simply smiled politely and bowed.

"Greetings. My name at the moment is Mercy, 10th Son of Satan and heir to the throne. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,"

-Ten Hours Later-

Mercy couldn't help but grumble as he sat in the passenger seat of the car. Though he was completely serious, Reborn hadn't believe his introduction. Even the woman of the house suppressed a chuckle and called him cute in response to his words. He wasn't cute or weak or whatever it was those humans thought he was. It wasn't his fault he was the youngest and it showed in his human form! He was to be the next Satan!

Or well when Father decided to go on vacation again… despite his desire not to be…

Perhaps it had to deal with his mixed blood, like his eldest brother Giotto. Both of them were outliers out of all the siblings. Their mother, unlike the demon mothers their other siblings had, was a fallen angel. Maybe it had to do with the angel bloodline, however corrupt it was, that made those two the most level headed and least bloodthirsty. Timoteo and Daniela weren't too bad, but they had their moments. Those moments far more frequent than Giotto or Mercy.

The young demon popped his neck as he stretched only to settle back into his seat. He could do patience, yes, but he was already in a bit of a bad mood being teased by Reborn. Even after he claimed he wasn't lying, the hitman continued to patronize him. But his impatience wasn't from anything. No it was because Reborn got a call from a job and dragged Mercy along. With this surely Mercy could demonstrate that he isn't a simple weakling no matter how he may appear.

"How much longer?"

"However much longer it takes. Now keep quiet, or I will shoot you,"

Now, while that seemed harsh, in Reborn's defence this wasn't the first time Mercy asked that question. Actually more like closer to the 15th time.

"Why do we have to stake this place out anyway? We already know the demon is in there,"

"Because if we run right in while there may be a chance of bystanders, then they may get hurt too,"

"So what?"

Bang. A perfect hole erupted from Mercy's thigh, logging itself in the meat and prompting a hiss from the young demon.

"Your kind may do things differently, but we humans value the lives of innocents," The hitman spat, his killing intent spreading through the car so tangible it was near suffocating.

"Well sorry for asking…" Mercy mumble back. He himself wasn't exactly sure what he did wrong. It may have not been a common occurrence for him to interact with humans (well he did interact with one in the past fifty years, but that man hardly counted as a regular human in his book). And as much as it stung like an insult, Reborn was right. His kind could care less about innocents. If a weaker demon got in the way of stronger ones by pure accident they would simply be ignored and likely killed without a second thought. His world wasn't exactly one of Mercy, which made his name all the more interesting.

He would never admit to someone who didn't know that it fit him perfectly.

In Hell, the weak would be killed and devoured. His mercy and kindness was one such weakness. So Mercy kept that side of him locked up, only free for his friends to see. While he managed to get Mukuro to join him it was only because the man was once a human who turned into a demon due to the strong negative emotions he experienced upon being tortured and experimented on before death.

Even among his only family, there were just a few who wouldn't ridicule him for his softer side. Timoteo, Giotto, Daniela, and, oddly enough, his father himself saw no problems with it. If anything they encouraged it. According to Giotto, it was because the two of them were a of a pure and gentle darkness that didn't suffocate but rather encompassed in a way similar to light. For those who truly needed it, they drew in people like a beacon and were like a breath of fresh air in the otherwise hostile place.

Outside of his family, his guardians, and Giotto's guardians, there was only one other attracted to that light. A kind of shinigami of sorts who policed both the true Underworld and Earth's version of such. But it had been a while since the two interacted.

A gasp of breath brought the demon out of his thoughts as his healing factor activated and with a contraction of muscles what was left of the bullet was pushed out with a small amount of silver blood. Luckily, or unluckily since it could have easily proved Mercy true, his blood began to smoke and bubble soon after. (Demon's bodies reflect heat like a mirror reflects light. The heat increases exponentially when regeneration occurs. It doesn't help that Mercy is a fire-based demon. Luckily his outermost skin is like a rubber protector so he doesn't burn his clothes or melt things around him. But under his skin mixture with regeneration it easily reaches around 100 degrees celsius.)

Rather than react to the sight, Reborn simply pushed open his door.

"It's time."

Omake! Reborn's Demon Discussion Corner!

Reborn pulled out a pointer from his pocket and turned to the chalkboard in front of the classroom.

"Chaos. Today we will introduce the demon ranking system. There are Four Tiers.

"In the First is Satan and his Four generals. Each general is both a guardian of one of the cardinal directions in Hell, as well as a Horseman of the Apocalypse. They can be identified by their ability to appear as beautiful humans without any sign of being a demon. But, they can be recognized. If made to bleed, their blood can be observed to be of a golden color. Sadly the chances of making one of them bleed is a million and one.

"In the Second are the Ten Kings of Hell, all of which is directly sired by Satan himself. (There are some rumors about a secret 11th Court, though nothing has been confirmed.) Each of the King's have anywhere from 7 to 13 guardians. Those guardians act as their closest advisors. While their human forms are always without perfection, they can blend in quite easily. They just look more like common-pretty humans rather than the 'supermodel' forms of the First Tier. Their blood is a vibrant silver if shed.

"In the Third are the Guards or Courts of the Kings of Hell. Each King has roughly 7 to 13 of them. Some of this rank can also exist outside of the Courts, but it is rare. Their human forms always have some kind of feature that hints at their true nature, whether it be an extra eyes, a tail, or maybe unnatural ears. Their blood is pitch black and said not to reflect any light.

"In the Four we come in with the common demons. These demons cannot take human form on their own and usually have to turn to possessing people in order to blend in among humans. Their blood is a snot green.

"While the first three tiers are the most powerful, they are also the most reasonable and intelligent. While the fourth is the easiest to contract and control, they are also the most likely to become hostile and go on rampages. In some cases the third tier has been known to take contracts with permission from their king's, but it is next to unheard of for a second rank to have a contract with a human. This is the exactly reason why I say that Mercy cannot be in the Third Rank… even though his human form is next to flawless… Maybe he is hiding a tail in his pants or something.

Anyway that is the end of the lesson. Now get out of here before I shoot you."

Author's Note!:

I preformed some edits to the second and third chapter as well as to blend the two together. Going through it, I decided to change some details that I threw in before hand without thinking that may end up being contradicted further on in the story. Those were the product of a degree of carelessness and have further been disputed.

Just a little heads up. I feed on reviews. The more you review, the faster this will be updated. I plan on getting back into the swing of writing my stories, so the reviews I get will factor into that which I update first. So be sure to review!

PS: While I am taking down chapter three to write the second half to it, those of you who have already read it can consider it a sneak peek.

RazenshiaSapphire1306: Yeah, the seal was slightly based off of Pandora Heart's contractor seal because some of the markings could blend easily into flame. And I even have a fun little fact. Since Satan is immortal, he mainly uses his heirs during breaks. So every hundred years or so depending on how he is feeling, he will have one of his children take a turn ruling Hell. Last time it was the Ninth Heir's turn, so this next upcoming time it is the Tenth Heir's turn.

IAsajsd: Gokudera will be formally introduced likely within the first few chapters. After all, even if Tsuna says it is okay, he can't just sit back and trust a human to look after his Juudaime.

SilverWhiteDragon: I'll see how the story goes. Though Gokudera really does remind me of a little kid picking on the person he secretly loves.

RazenshiaSapphire1306: Well you'll just have to keep reading. And no problem. I start school in roughly ten days so I am going to keep on updating frequently while I have the time. Once school starts, it will likely slow down.

X3: The Guardians will show up when they run out of patience. Since Tsuna, their King, is in the human world and they have a contract of sorts between demons to look after him they can follow him. I will likely explain in more depth later when they come in.

Sakura: Yes. I may hit a point where he goes by Tsuna, but at the moment he goes by Mercy. It is short for his real name, which can be translated into Tsunayoshi in japanese.

Lil' Doormouse: Thank you. Yes I've read that one and a few others. Part of my interest in the supernatural fics like that sparked my desire to write this.

Random Reviewer: He is laid-back for the most part, but he is still Tsuna. He will spazz out when freaking out. While it takes more to get him to freak out, it is less likely. He does pout a lot though instead of scream.

Luce Giglo Nero: Demons, while having preferred genders and birth genders are all genderfluid up to a point. Tsuna could appear as a human male or female, as could the others. So yes there may be some cross-dressing. And Skull is a half-demon. Viper/Mammon is in fact Mammon or the personification of the Sin of Greed. He just likes to troll people and play human/hunter because he can get more money that way.

SparrowKyo: Daemonium Pacisor Mercy means Demon (to) Contract Mercy. And Tsuna would likely get into the mafia to help his brother Giotto, who ended up possessing Dino and is using him and his famiglia to try and take out some of the darker parts that Vindicare itself doesn't touch. Things like human trafficking and such.

Guest: Here is the update my friend.