at his sides. Colonello's hands framed his face, lips moving gently against his own, a tongue swiping across the seam. Colonello's eyes were open, staring at something over Tsuna's shoulder with intensity. It made Tsuna shudder in anticipation.
Colonello dropped a hand to Tsuna's new contract, his own, and let his fingers knead the new, still sensitive seal. Tsuna couldn't help but whimper, back arching wantonly and Colonello used the advantage of that noise to lick softly into Tsuna's mouth, lapping at the roof of the brunet's mouth and running his tongue against Tsuna's teeth.
Tsuna swayed briefly and Colonello's other hand dropped from Tsuna's face to curl around a hip bone, his other hand sliding up from the seal to fist in Tsuna's unruly hair, tilting his head just so to better slant their mouths together. Then the warmth in front of Tsuna was torn away abruptly and he blearily blinked his eyes open, wondering when he had closed them.
Reborn held Colonello tightly by the collar of his over shirt and dragged him towards the door in harsh, jerky movements. Tsuna watched, still a little dazed, as they left the room and allowed Verde to guide him to the bed so he could sit down before his legs gave out.
"The creation of a contract is staggering, is it not?" Verde asked, tone almost sympathetic. "You seemed just as stunned as you were when our contract was made."
"It…It's the feel of the Aether." Tsuna wrinkled his nose, hand briefly lifting to touch his mouth. "It's an amazing feeling. Warm and soothing. Overwhelming…Where did Reborn take him?"
"Presumably outside, in order to have a 'talk' with him without damaging your room again."
It took a few long moments for Verde's words to fully sink in and then Tsuna struggled to his feet.
"No. No, no. They are not fighting over me. Not again. I won't allow it. They're acting like little kids and it's not only stupid, but they're just embarrassing themselves. Honestly, if they keep this up, you're going to be my favourite, Verde."
"I don't see that outcome as unfavourable, Tsuna. I wouldn't mind becoming your favourite," Verde offered in reply. Tsuna just sighed, giving him a wan smile.
"You cause the least amount of trouble and haven't even tried to kiss me yet. I think you're already my favourite. But regardless, I'm going to stop them from fighting before someone sees and calls a teacher. Or the police…" Tsuna walked towards the door, letting Verde accompany him with a hand on his elbow to keep him steady and upright.
"You're very impressionable after contracting. I haven't seen someone so sensitive to Aether before," Verde told him as they walked down the stairs, heading for the front door of the building.
"I've been able to see demons and little extra features about people for as long as I can remember," Tsuna hesitantly admitted, peering up at Verde from under his lashes. "I didn't go about admitting it after the first few times got me into trouble. People tend to tell me I'm being ridiculous, or in the teachers' case, tell me to stop seeking attention. Besides, it's on my record that I have a vision wound so my ability to see demons is normal."
"Being able to see my external features isn't normal, Tsuna," Verde murmured. The hand on the brunet's elbow moved almost automatically to his shoulder, rubbing at the tight ache that started to form.
"Yeah, well, I like to think I'm normal sometimes. It's better than the alternative." Tsuna leaned into Verde's touch, groaning happily as the tightness eased a little. "I mean, who wants to think of themselves as a freak of nature? Moreover, I only started seeing the extra little things you lot were hiding today. That doesn't normally happen."
"You have a gift that should be cherished, Tsuna. You shouldn't have to feel secluded or isolated just because others don't understand."
"Look, Verde, I came out here to stop Reborn and Colonello from turning my school into a crater, not to get a lecture about what I should and shouldn't do with this…this thing I have. Being able to see things I shouldn't, even if I am a Summoner, it's something I'd rather have brushed under the rug and forgotten."
Tsuna pulled away from Verde's hold to shove the front door open. He immediately became suspicious when he saw the empty courtyard. There was no damage, no change from destruction. There was simply calm and peace.
"It seems they have briefly stepped from this space-" Verde explained as Tsuna turned to him with a wary, apprehensive expression, "-in order to minimise damage. They haven't moved planes, but rather slipped into the gap between planes."
"Can you take me there?"
"Humans can step foot there, yes." Verde held his hand out, palm up, and Tsuna grabbed it with hardly a thought. Then Tsuna felt a sharp yank centred on his ribcage and he was suddenly hurtling through what felt like a tight, black tunnel. He stumbled and landed his knees on the strangely spongy ground, trying not to heave.
Verde's hands moved to his shoulders and Tsuna was pulled shakily to his feet, swaying briefly on the spot as Verde gently moved to hold his face, peering closely at his eyes before seemingly satisfied with what he had seen and let go, one steadying hand resting across Tsuna's waist.
Tsuna couldn't help but lean into Verde to keep his balance as he asked, mouth feeling weirdly dry, "Explain to me where we are again?"
Verde was silent for a moment. "We are in what we call a slip-space. To visualise this, imagine a street with eight houses. These houses represent the planes. You live at the first house and wish to go to the fourth house. You pass the second house, but as you pass the third house, there is a bench you can sit down on. This is the gap between houses, the gap between planes."
"Right…" Tsuna mumbled. "I think I get that. So…does this mean there are different 'slip-spaces'?"
"No. One slip-space encompasses all. So you can get an idea of that concept, imagine each plane, or house, is enveloped in individual bubbles. These bubbles do not touch. Each of these bubbles is within a larger space, another bubble. The interior of this large bubble fits in the spaces between the houses, or planes, and so there is only one."
"How will we find Colonello and Reborn in this mess then?" Tsuna asked, grumbling quietly as he let Verde herd him along. He looked around, but this place was empty, lifeless.
"In this space, Aether travels more freely from the body because your soul is not as tightly joined to your body. This means it is visible to even to the naked eye of humans."
"I can't see anything," Tsuna muttered, folding an arm across his chest as if he were hugging himself. "It's all sepia toned and grim looking here."
Verde's hand moved to rest under his chin and he tilted Tsuna's head up, watching closely as Tsuna's expression loosened into something close to awe, eyes widening in amazement. The demon's eyes narrowed.
"How much can you see?" Verde asked softly, as if afraid to break Tsuna from his reverie. Tsuna floundered for words to describe what he could actually see above him.
"H-Have you ever seen the Northern Lights?" Tsuna replied quietly, eyes still skyward. "Where the colours move across the sky and mingle together? It's like that but…but more. I can't explain it."
"Then your vision allows you to observe more than even I can, Tsuna. To myself, and many others, there are only brief flickers of colour. Humans, despite seeing, can only see the barest colours, and normally then only the Aether of their demons."
"I can see Reborn and Colonello, even you." Tsuna suddenly interrupted, voice breathless, and his hand reached out to hold Verde's shirt. Verde watched with slight trepidation as Tsuna's eyes began to faintly glow before becoming a bright, almost disconcerting orange.
"As can I," Verde murmured, and moved his hand to curl around Tsuna's wrist, tugging him along. "They're in this direction."
"It's amazing," Tsuna said, voice still a quiet whisper as he let himself get pulled after Verde, fingers going slack and eyes still skyward.
"You are the only one who will be able to calm them down without any danger. I need you to concentrate, Tsuna." Verde tightened his fingers around Tsuna wrist, tugging to try and bring his attention down from whatever he could see from in the sky.
Tsuna swallowed a few times and let his gaze drop to watch where he was walking, moving once again to grab onto Verde, as if centring himself. His eyes will still glowing, but softer now, his Aether settling deep inside again.
"If they're fighting, how can I stop them?" Tsuna asked, voice strangely thick. Verde glanced down to see Tsuna was keeping his eyes closed, more than likely to keep himself from becoming distracted by whatever he could see above him.
"In whichever way you find appropriate, Tsuna. Whether it's by Words of Reprimand or by command, they will listen, unless their fury blinds them to what they need to see."
"It was just a kiss. I don't understand why Colonello found the need to do it. Contracting is powerful, but I didn't feel the urge to kiss him. But even if I wasn't happy about it, Reborn doesn't need to go this far."
"Jealousy is a powerful emotion. Envy, too, aptly labelled a sin. Perhaps Reborn feels vindicated that Colonello dared take such a step when he himself has known you longer."
Tsuna scoffed, moving his hand from Verde's shirt to loop his arm through the green haired man's for better support, stepping closer. He was still adamantly keeping his eyes closed.
"Am I right in thinking you feel the same way? I looked up what 'pulchritudinous' meant. Subtle, but not so much, Verde."
"I felt jealousy. That is correct. But, unlike Colonello, I am more versed in controlling my emotions, and unlike Reborn, I have not recently suffered a break in my composure."
"The Dervish," Tsuna supplied, more of a statement than a question. Verde hummed the affirmative. Tsuna hesitated and then continued, voice soft, "Is it only the power of my Aether that made you want to contract with me?"
"We Arcobaleno are strong enough without worrying about the state of our Summoners." Verde kept Tsuna's hand tucked in the crook of his arm and reached to rest his opposite hand above his Summoner's.
"Then why would you want to contract with someone like me?"
Verde stopped walking for a moment, silent enough for Tsuna to peek a glance through his lashes, only to see Verde staring down at him.
"You are a selfless, beautiful human being, Tsuna. Your soul shines brightly and I find myself hard pressed to believe you could ever have a negative thought. I wanted to contract not for your Aether, as strong and as lovely it is, but due to your personality. This is the first time in many years that a human has treated us as more than demons, and not as pawns to be used as they please."
"You mean, I'm like Luce." Tsuna couldn't help but let the name slip. Verde stiffened so unnaturally that Tsuna was almost certain that Verde had turned to stone. His stomach flipped and churned uncomfortably at the realisation he had said something wrong.
"We went to great lengths to ensure that Luce's name would never enter the history books."
Tsuna squirmed at Verde's tone of voice. He suddenly felt afraid for his wellbeing despite the irrationality of it. "She…She was helped by my family. In the sixteen-hundreds, back then we were called the Mansforth family and before, over the next few centuries, we immigrated to Japan and earned the last name Sawada through marriage."
"Mansforth," Verde murmured quietly and then spoke, voice deceptively calm, "That gives no indication as to how you knew her name."
"The family book." Tsuna scratched his neck nervously with his free hand. "We…We have a family book, books really, passed down through the generations and used as a history journal. Each new generation fills it in with events they think are significant, or even use it as a day to day diary. Luce was mentioned. I…" Tsuna swallowed, about to admit to having her diary, but decided to keep that part to himself. "I know who she is because of that. I thought it was a coincidence, seeing your name, Reborn's name. But then when Fon came, and Colonello…four names out of seven, three of which had similar Aethers to those mentioned, then…"
Verde continued walking and Tsuna stumbled slightly at the sudden movement. Verde moved his arm to curl it around Tsuna's waist, arm resting comfortingly against the seal. Tsuna could relax again, leaning into Verde's side when coaxed.
Softly, almost impossible for Tsuna to hear, Verde admitted with a rough, near heartbroken tone, "Yes. You're almost like Luce."
"Here." Verde abruptly pulled Tsuna to a stop. "Any closer and we may get caught in the wayward strikes. Now you have to garner their attention."
Tsuna just hummed in acquiescence, eyes once more locked onto the sky above him, enraptured by something only he could see. He had to be prompted several times before he let his eyes drift down and stare at something in the distance. His movements were slow, dazed. Verde watched closely, waiting to see what Tsuna would do in order to stop Colonello and Reborn from fighting. Upon seeing Tsuna pull the summoning blade from its sheath, he assumed that Tsuna would be doing a conventional blood summons.
It was a shock when Tsuna flipped the knife with sudden speed and dexterity, violently driving the knife into the meat of his right thigh. He gave a sharp twist before, apparently, the pain was enough for Tsuna to stumble to his knees.
"Tsuna." Verde's voice was filled with concern and question. Tsuna smiled dreamily up at him, to where the demon had moved quickly to his Summoner's side, alarmed.
"What better way," Tsuna began languorously, "To attract a contract, than to bring them back with emotion."
"You could have called them."
"And they could have ignored me, or maybe they wouldn't have heard," Tsuna replied, eyes lifting from Verde's face to the sky once more. "They won't ignore a Summoner in pain."
"As they are already aware you're in pain, then we can leave the slip-space and they will follow," Verde countered, reaching towards Tsuna. "I did not bring you here with the intention of you hurting yourself."
"Adflicto," Tsuna whispered in return and Verde doubled over as the Word of Reprimand rooted itself within him, the pain the word promised rocketing through his body for as long as Tsuna would allow it.
His skin was still sensitive and prickling when Tsuna's Aether began to soothe as opposed to burn, an apology in itself as it settled back down.
"I don't want to leave until they're here, Verde. There is still so much more left to see, so much more left to do. I didn't mean to hurt you. Come, sit here with me. It won't be much longer."
Verde composed himself as he folded himself into a seated position, almost warily, beside his master. He was rewarded with a soft smile and a glimmer of sunset orange eyes.
"At least allow me to tend to your wound," Verde compromised, fingers reaching towards the knife. Tsuna let him, unfolding his leg from under his body with a twitch of pain and extending his leg in front of him.
Verde pulled the knife out in a quick, smooth movement, hand moving to soothe the wound. He was immeasurably glad that Tsuna hadn't cut through a major blood vessel with his action.
"Reborn can heal it when he returns," Tsuna amended, glancing to Verde once more. "Does the blood bother you?"
This rich with the Aether that was obviously thrumming through Tsuna's body, Tsuna's blood was bothering Verde, but he schooled his expression into something that was neutral and gave nothing away.
"Not enough to cause concern, Tsuna. However, should any lesser demons be travelling or trapped in the slip-space, then they too are at risk of being drawn close, not just Colonello and Reborn."
"They will be here before that." Tsuna's voice was confident and sure, his face twisting slightly in discomfort as Verde pushed more firmly against the wound. The demon took a deep breath and then held it tightly, ignoring the complaint of the lungs he didn't need.
"I didn't mean to anger you earlier," Tsuna mumbled, "By mentioning Luce. Curiosity is a dangerous thing and I couldn't help but let it slip. I hope I have my own qualities that have resulted in your choice to contract. I can't imagine I'm a very good replacement, as I'm not as well versed in the ways of the world."
"How could you even imagine yourself to be a replacement, Tsuna?" Verde asked, so sharply, so incredulously, that Tsuna glanced down from the sky, looking startled.
"Well…I just assumed…if Luce managed to summon all of you, she must have had a Sky Flame as her Aether aspect too. And Reborn said how you prefer the human plane as opposed to the others, so…you've either contracted with me because I'm similar to Luce or because you wanted freedom."
"I have already told you why I chose to agree to this contract Tsuna. It was not for anything you have just mentioned." Verde moved his free hand to Tsuna's face, cupping his jaw and running a thumb against his cheekbone. "Yes, you are similar to Luce. But you have differences that make you who you are and a person I would gladly be contracted with. We have all long accepted, however painful the truth is, that Luce is gone. However, you are brilliant in your own right. Yes, Luce treated us well, but not to the extent as to where you treat us as friends. She saw us as equals. She was a great person, but she stayed detached in the face of the war she had to end."
Tsuna was staring at him with rapt attention, so focused that Verde almost, almost felt uncomfortable at those orange highlighted eyes on his face.
"You really mean that?" Tsuna asked, pressing his face firmer into Verde's palm, voice almost elated.
Verde couldn't help but lean forward and press a chaste kiss to Tsuna's lips as he murmured, "Of course."
"Oh dear, Verde. Are you being sentimental?"
Tsuna flinched back at Reborn's almost sudden appearance, wincing subtly at the twinge it gave in his leg when Verde's hand slipped off because of the movement, fingers scraping against the wound.
"No more than you have been, Reborn." Verde wiped his hand clean on his thigh with a murmured apology to Tsuna. Reborn snorted as he crouched by Tsuna, wiping the back of his wrist against his mouth and smearing almost black coloured blood across his face.
"What have you gone and done now, Tsuna?" Reborn asked, voice softening noticeably as he faced his Summoner, his cleaner hand hovering over the knife wound. "It's a nice clean wound. Self-inflicted?"
In response to Reborn's disapproving tone, Tsuna simply rolled his head on his neck to peer up at him and murmured, "Well, I could either get your attention this way, or get too close and be damaged by your Aether instead. So, it was either be healed of a simple knife wound, or one inflicted by Aether. They weren't good choices to begin with."
"You could have summoned me, us." Reborn bit back quietly, nostrils flaring briefly as he dragged his fingertips against the tacky blood that was still sluggishly bleeding from the wound.
Tsuna let his eyes drift upwards. Reborn had to hold in a shudder of foreboding at the almost sly, tired smile that crossed Tsuna's face.
"Could you even imagine if I sparked my Aether in such a place, Reborn? It's so gentle, and fragile. If I dared, who would be called across, what would break?" Tsuna fell silent then, refusing to elaborate, face tilted towards the sky again.
"He can see far more than we can, Reborn," Verde offered in explanation, watching quietly as Reborn started healing the wound, thumb running against the edge of the neat cut. "He likens the flow of Aether above to the aurora borealis. And, when he looks us in the eye, he sees us for what we hide, not our guises."
Reborn let his jaw clench, but gave no other indication he had heard. He simply continued his work until he could edge his fingers through the hole of Tsuna's trousers and run his fingertips across smooth skin, broken only by the tiny ridge of scar tissue. With that, he pulled away, patting Tsuna's thigh once and sitting back, wiping his mouth with his wrist again.
"Where is Colonello?" Tsuna asked quietly, shifting so he could almost automatically lean into Reborn's side.
"I sent him back. I knew you were in pain, but not if you were bleeding -which you were- and his control of emotions was too loose to be around you in this state."
"By which you mean, he had to go and lick his wounds," Verde murmured, "And you didn't want him anywhere around Tsuna."
"Oh, please, regale us more with your dry wit, Verde," Reborn shot back. "I just love to listen to you analyse me as if I don't know myself."
"Don't tempt me, Reborn," Verde responded, straightening his back. "I could go on for days explaining your greatest failures and discrepancies in life."
"Please do, I'd be delighted to listen."
Tsuna couldn't help but laugh, stifled into his palm, and was rewarded with the demons turning to him, both raising an eyebrow in question.
"Oh, no, don't mind me, you two." Tsuna smiled slightly, absent-mindedly reaching to rub at his eye. "Carry on. I just wonder how Luce managed to save the world if all you manage to do is bicker like adolescent children."
The light atmosphere dropped slightly as Reborn reached across to touch Tsuna's hand to garner his attention. "You know about Luce?" he asked, voice low and tight.
"I've been through this with Verde," Tsuna sighed. "But she had help from my family in the past before we earned the Sawada name and moved. In the sixteenth century, or so. The Purge."
Reborn worked his jaw, eyes narrowed. He lifted an arm to pop his opposite shoulder back into a place with a gut wrenching squelch.
"Perhaps," Verde interrupted Reborn, sticking out his hand to make him stay quiet. "We should return before Tsuna is forced to explain on the subject. It is less safe here than it could be at the Academy. Also, it saves Tsuna from having to repeat himself again for Colonello's benefit."
Reborn swiped blood away from his face one last time before he stood, taking a hold of Tsuna's shoulder and gently pulling him to his feet, wrapping an arm around Tsuna's shoulders when the Summoner stumbled. His thigh was sending phantom pains of a wound it thought was still there.
"Are you ready, Tsuna?"
Tsuna took in a slow, deep breath, brushing his hands down to his thighs before nodding and moving to hold onto Reborn's shirt, knowing that the transition would probably upset his stomach again.
He still felt sick when the shift between spaces happened again.
"Does that cover it then?" Tsuna asked, sitting cross legged on his bed with his back to the wall. "That's how our family met Luce. I'm not too sure what happened to her though, before the whole…the whole hanging thing."
"She pushed too far," Reborn muttered, thumbing carefully through the family book. "She stopped the Purge, made people think twice about what they were doing. But then she pressed to get demons equality, the same as that of humans, and as a result, they decided she was too dangerous to be kept alive. They hung her only two weeks after celebrating her work on stopping such a bloody war."
"It was disgusting, kora," Colonello muttered, lip curled with distaste. "I didn't want anything to do with humans again after that. But then I met you, kora!" He smiled brightly. Tsuna was unable to stop himself from smiling wearily in return.
"Oh, be any sweeter and you might give me a cavity, Colonello," Reborn sighed and moved to sit next to Tsuna on the bed, sprawling an arm across his shoulders and tugging him close. His fingers reached to knead the scar, an action that had become automatic.
Colonello made a noise reminiscent of an angry cat hissing and Tsuna mentally tallied it down on his 'list of weird noises Colonello makes when emoting' before he watched the blond leave the room with an aggravated, dismissive wave of his hand. Verde hadn't returned to the dorm with them, having heard the story of how Tsuna had met Luce already and so had stopped at the library whereas Tsuna and Reborn had continued to the room.
"You shouldn't have let Verde take you to the slip-space."
"You shouldn't have overreacted about a kiss, considering you took one yourself. And don't you say it was different. He'd just contracted with me, and you got high from Aether. I'm crossing them both off of the list. Besides, now that it's just you here, I've got something to give you."
Tsuna wiggled free from the bed, moving to his bag and hunting through it before he carefully removed Luce's diary. "I would have given it to you before, but…well, there were a few issues." He carefully didn't mention Byakuran in Reborn's presence, a little apprehensive of his possible reaction.
"Anyway, here." He held the diary out, watching as Reborn took it with a look of confusion and curiosity before complete recognition crossed his face. "I'd thought you'd be better off with it than I am. It's in Old Italian and I think she meant it more to you than she did to me…"
Tsuna trailed off as Reborn swept him into a tight enough hug that he was forced onto his tiptoes to stay on the floor, and then was lifted completely. Reborn's arms were like a vice around him, face pressed into his shoulder.
"It means a lot, Tsuna. Really." Reborn's voice was muffled, but thankful. "Thank you."
Tsuna couldn't help but smile, wrapping his arms around Reborn's neck.
"It's alright. You'd do some of the same for me, I'm sure."
Reborn would do a lot more for Tsuna. But, for now, it wasn't the time to mention that'