Title: Contract

By: Metamorcy

Pairing: Arcobaleno27, main R27

Summary: AU, Earth and Meraviglie are two worlds interconnected; only known to a few. And Tsuna, who can travel to the other world, stumbles across a humanoid man with a fedora hat. Full Summary inside, Arcobaleno27, main R27

Full Summary: Earth and Meraviglie are two worlds interconnected by an invisible barrier that holds them together and is also used to travel in-between. However, this information is only known to a selected few. The people of Earth with the ability to make pacts are called Capturers are able to head down to Meraviglie using a manmade portal and there they can make pacts with the residents in the other world, some forceful and others in benefit. Tsuna having this ability goes to a special school to learn everything he needs to know about the other world and his abilities, however, after two years of being there, never once has he made a successful pact. For this, he's been ridiculed and teased. But one day, all that changes when he stumbles across a humanoid man with a fedora hat.

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

N/A: This first chapter is mostly to announce things and explain more about the two worlds and how things work. Once this chapter passes, I'll only be touching this stuff briefly and going more into the main story however this is still an important read since it introduces the characters.

Beta'ed by 'AmbiguousThoughts.'

Edited: 6/13/13

Chapter 1

Tsuna sighed. He was here again, back in this very same spot. The wilderness around stared right at him, nothing had changed at all. The trees were still purple with green leaves sprouting out from its branches and it had odd vines crawling up whatever it touched like it was some sort of weed. There were many multi-colored flowers decorating the ground almost like a paintbrush had splattered across it and the sky was still blue with pink clouds floating along. There were noises of animals from the bushes, the leaves rustling at any movement, and if he listened really closely, he could hear the rushing sound of water in the distance.

He grumbled to himself. He had been forced to take the test again, to see if he would be able to form a pact with one of the residents of this world, Meraviglie. This world and the world he lived on, which was Earth, were interconnected by an invisible pathway. This pathway acted as a barrier to prevent the two worlds from seeing and touching each other, but at the same time, granted the people of both worlds the ability to travel between them. Those from his world created manmade portals called Cremils in multiple places that would allow the people of Earth to go over.

However, only certain people were able to go. These people needed to have the ability to create pacts, a special magic that was generally passed down by genes, but it wasn't uncommon to find a person who wasn't related to a carrier able to do so, though extremely rare. These people, very few in numbers, were allowed to go to Meraviglie and gain pacts with the residents in that world. What they did with these pacts was left up to them, but many companies and people wanted to hire these Capturers, people that can make pacts, for protection and other reasons. Whether it was for good or evil was left up to the Capturer themselves, however, there was always a group out there to keep watch over their actions as a just in case.

A pact that the Mervaiglians and Capturers made was more like a contract between the two people. The Capturer generally had to battle, either physically or in smarts, depending on the opponent, and if the Meraviglian decided that the Earthling was worth it, would agree to the terms. Sometimes the pact was forced, like if a person beat the other into submission, and sometimes it was mutual where they had an equal agreement. An example would be that the Capturer wanted someone to protect him while the Assurer, another name for a Meraviglian in a pact, wanted to travel. They could easily benefit from the pact.

But no matter what, or how the professors and scholars tried to flower it all up, it sounded like slavery to Tsuna. The brunet wasn't the type of person that could do these sorts of things. He didn't want to enslave anyone. He didn't want to make anyone miserable because of something he had done. He just wanted to go home, go back to his previous life, despite his obvious failure.

In truth, Tsuna had no talent for this. He wasn't physically strong or smart or something like that. He just wasn't really good at anything and was known as Dame-Tsuna to everyone in his school. Though he was twenty-one, he never really succeeded in life. His middle and high school grades were just barely passing, adequate to get him by with his life and continue onward. He was lucky enough to get into an art and culinary school, though not the best, and it was something he was completely delighted in as an accomplishment.

By the time he was nineteen, he was still living with his mom even after passing high school and going to college. It wasn't until that time when his father came home to drop him off at Relinquish University, a hidden school that only accepted those with pact abilities, that his life was turned upside down. He had been forced to live here in the dormitory and surrender to multiple tests that had many times given him serious injuries. This wasn't a place he wanted to be. He wanted to go home and go back to his old college.

Sighing to himself, Tsuna settled onto a rock in the middle of the open field, a place he had been coming to ever since he had found it a year ago. He watched as petals from the glowing flowers fluttered up into the air, getting caught in the wind and flying away to some other piece of land. It was a beautiful site, quite mesmerizing, and he wouldn't mind sitting here the whole day to just watch. If he had a camera or some paper with him, he would love to keep this scene in his memory forever. But he wasn't allowed to bring any devices or items unless it was approved by the school.

Of course, that didn't mean he had something better to do. All the other students were out running around, many with each other, while he remained here on his own.

After being forced by his father and grandfather to come to this school, he realized that they were trying to make him gain a few pacts to help with the family business. His father didn't have the ability and required someone else to do so to keep things running. Tsuna sighed at the mention of his father. His father's side of the family ran a large organization that had been passed down by generations and were expecting him to contribute into it.

However, when they realized that Tsuna was completely useless to them, they wanted him to at least get a decent bodyguard so that they wouldn't have to waste money protecting him. It also didn't help him that they were actually the ones that ran the school. He wasn't allowed to escape from this cage and he had long given up. His family just had too much influence on his world. His older brothers were just like his father and grandfather, both powerful people, and he was the black sheep, weak and helpless. He was too clumsy for his own good, always tripping over nothing and dragging down anything he touched with him.

Because of that, his brothers remained away, far away from him. The only person that still talked to him was his mother, but that wasn't much. Now a day, it was never. She had been quite horrified to find her youngest son wasn't worth much to the family despite his special ability. He had no friends, his classmates didn't even want to be near him, and if they did, it was just to bully him and ridicule him for being so weak. It wasn't his fault. He didn't want to be here.

And so for two years, he had been doing the same thing continuously and yet nothing had ever changed. He would come to this world two to three times a week with the rest of the class to see if he could make a pact. Everyone else had and went up the next step, which was to take on missions and tests. And he was left behind.

Perhaps it was his fate to be alone forever.

Tsuna tilted his head, hearing a soft crack from his neck. He had been keeping his head in that same position for too long and his back was starting to ache as well. Well, at least here, he didn't have anyone ridiculing him for being so pathetic.

"What's this? Isn't that Dame-Tsuna?"

Or not.

The brunet with soft looking hair that defied gravity twisted around to see a bunch of his classmates standing behind him. Flinching at the sight of them, Tsuna couldn't help but take a step back. He didn't want any trouble. "Um… Hi."

"What are you doing here? Lazing around?" One of them snickered, making the others follow the same way.

"Ah…no, I was…just admiring the flowers. They're pretty." Tsuna felt a cold sweat run down his back, every instinct in his body telling him to run, and he made a shift in his legs that let them know to be ready for any sudden act.

"Flowers? Do you hear that?" They laughed. "You're such an idiot. If you have that much free time, maybe you should gain a pact. Oh, that's right, you're too stupid to get one. Why are you even here in the first place?"

"It's his family. His family's so famous, so big, and yet, Dame-Tsuna here is pathetic. He's nothing like them. Useless. That's why they sent him here. It's so that they don't have to watch over him. They can pay the teachers to play babysitter."

"Oh, you're right!"

Tsuna could feel his will lowering at those words. He already knew all of that. Using the chance while his classmates were talking about him, he turned around and ran for his life. There was a startled yell from behind but he didn't bother looking back. He had to get away, he had to. A terrible feeling from the bottom of his stomach bubbled up to tell him that his classmates wouldn't hesitate using their Assurers to hurt him. And just as he disappeared into the forest, he felt different presences behind him that were odd, not human. Taking a glance back, he could see his classmate's creatures coming after him, following the commands of their master. The residents that dwelled in this world were different. Some looked human, others like monsters, and there were those like looked like they had come right out of a fairytale. It was amazing to see them, well, as long as they weren't trying to kill him, of course.

Racing through the woods, he made his way around, familiar with this area. The creatures behind kept up though, and he was afraid that they would actually catch him if he fell behind. Hiding behind trees and rocks or anything he could find, he waited and snuck around, hoping that he could be left alone. The creatures were persistent however, and they were ordered to, so they had to follow.

'Tired… I'm so tired,' Tsuna thought to himself. He was exhausted from running for such a long time and he wanted nothing more than to collapse on the ground for sleep. Sweat ran down his face, his breathing was labored, and his muscles were burning in agony. He hadn't run like this since forever. Finally settling down behind a tree, he leaned against it and sighed as quietly as possible, listening to the surrounding area. His ears didn't pick up any sounds, just the usual sounds of the forest. Taking that as a victory, that he had managed to get away, he relaxed slightly, hoping to gain some strength back.

Of course, it was only short lived.

"Found ya."

Tsuna jumped at that, twisting his head to look above him with wide eyes. There, up on the tree was one of the creatures. It was hideous looking, something that seemed to come out of a nightmare. The brunet held in a scream and pushed himself against the tree, hoping that would make him disappear. The monster's claws reached out towards him, scratching lightly across his face but luckily not deep enough to draw blood.

Letting out a little whimper, he tore away from the grasp and was off running again to gain some hopeful distance. He didn't get very far though as two more creatures popped out of the bushes, effectively surrounding him and trapping him within a circle. Tsuna shivered and brought his arms out before him defensively. He was doomed, he knew it. There was no way out of this.

"Our masters desire for you to be punished. We'll fulfill it. I wonder how much we can tear off of your human body in order to satisfy our Capturers," They giggled, speaking words similar to his classmates. Tears formed in his eyes, he was really doomed this time.

"D-Do you really have to do this?" Tsuna whispered, letting out a little squeak in response. His skin paled and he swallowed roughly just imagining how bad he'd be looking soon. There were some giggles from the creatures that let him know that not only were they ordered, but they too wanted to do this as well.

Bang!

Tsuna flinched at the abrupt sound, his ears tingling at the intensity, and blinked his eyes in shock. He watched as the creature before him screamed in agony, a large gaping hole in the center of its body, where the heart should have been. Tsuna's eyes widened at the sight, watching thick droplets of blood flow down that open space. Eventually, the body began to dissolve into flakes of ashes, the wind catching it and swishing it away. The other monsters made a gurgling sound before backing off, running away into the forest to disappear and to return to their masters.

Tsuna stood in the same spot before collapsing to the ground, taking a deep breath. Relief washed over him. He was free of those things. Sighing, he closed his eyes for a moment and then looked around for whomever or whatever had saved him. But there was no one around but trees, absolutely nothing.

Getting up back up, he tilted his head. 'Is it hiding? Guess so.' Taking a few steps forward, towards the direction where he had caught sight of the bullet, he spoke, "Thank you." Making a small bow in gratitude, he listened for any sounds but there was once more nothing. Taking another look one more time, he sighed heavily and slowly walked off, heading back to the open area he was used to being at.

He doubted his classmates would still be there, after all, they needed to do their missions or find more minions to make pacts out of. That and the one that just had their Assurer killed would probably be heading to a clinic right now. Apparently whenever a pact was forcefully broken, generally when the Assurer dies, the pact holder felt the pain of the death. It even worked if the Assurer was injured as well, like a backlash to the contract. Strangely, it didn't work the other way around.

There was a rustle. Tsuna lifted his head up a little at that, pausing in his steps. He listened again but didn't hear the sound. Shrugging his shoulders, Tsuna went back to walking until he reached his little spot and just as he thought, it was clear. Tsuna immediately settled back into his usual place and leaned back against the rock that was in the center, taking in the view. His caramel-colored eyes drifted into the dark spots of the forest that was surrounding him, wondering if whatever had saved him was still there. Well, his mind believed so and something was telling him that there was a pair of eyes peering right at his face. Cradling his legs against his body, he buried his face into them and closed his eyes.

'How much longer do I have here?' Tsuna thought absently to himself. Time continued here the same way as it did in his world. They corresponded with each other and aged the same way. But the residents of this world's time flowed differently, some went by like a normal human being, other's slower, and some faster. It was odd but rather intruding. It was strange that no scientist besides those that were already Capturers had wanted to investiage but that was probably because Meraviglie was kept as a secret.

Then a dark voice broke through his thoughts, sounding like a mist of darkness, brushing against him. "So you're a Capturer."

Do you guys like it? Does it sound okay so far? Let me know.