"...And that is why I want at least another one of us to go with him."
Surrounding a modern coffee table were seven people, each one corresponding to a colour of the rainbow yet the colour orange was missed; instead, two of the figures had similar colour schemes to one another.
They were all huddled around a single letter which was folded three times into a rectangle so that it would be easier to place inside an envelope.
The mood was quite thoughtful and almost desperate in nature. Clearly, the leader was the male sitting cross-legged on the ground with one of his arms propped up onto the coffee table. His cheek was settled on the lightly curled fist he formed with the same propped up arm.
His right hand, the opposite of the fist, lay on his thigh limply. A stylish fedora with only the small strip of hued fabric to indicate where he stands in the rainbow coloured group of peers.
A beautiful man with long, flowing dark hair turned to the raven and smiled softly. "Ah, I see now," he answered, his traditional Chinese clothing swaying slightly from the excess fabric which usually hung around as the sleeves of the garment.
"Well, I regret to say that I cannot attend. I am already going to the annual meet up that day and it simply cannot be rescheduled."
"I wanna go, Reborn, kora!"
"Idiot! We can't! We have to go with Mammon on that mission, remember?!"
"Awwwwh, come on, Lal, kora! Don't be a spoil sport!"
The blonde male pouted childishly while the dark bluette glared at him with an icy stare.
"I, for one, can join you if you would like, Reborn. I do miss Tsunayoshi," the long haired man proposed. Reborn gave a nod of approval towards the other dark haired male, Fon, and then turned to another of the figures.
He sighed. "I guess the lackey can join us," he said unsurely. The purple haired man who sat opposite of Fon perked up, smirking in anticipation (no doubt celebrating silently inside his head).
"Yay," the man cheered quietly, knowing that the raven would immediately stop him from coming if he made too much noise.
Instead, he turned to give his excited puppy-like look to Fon.
The other man just smiled and turned back to Reborn. "I am curious, old friend, why you are so bent on at least two of us coming along. Could it be that you have begun to... fall for this human, as they say?" Fon asked.
Reborn sputtered, having to cough to stop himself from almost choking on the air he breathed from the question. It had caught him off guard. That was enough of a response for all of the occupants of the room.
The raven was never caught off guard; he was "always prepared" as he would describe it himself. They all shared a knowing look, though their facial expressions remained indifferent.
Verde smirked mischievously to himself, before he excused himself and left with the flick of his lab coat. Mammon had left soon afterwards, going to check up on the money in the bank accounts within the group (as he usually did).
Soon after, Lal Mirch and Colonnello had left to train although it seemed more like Lal was forcing the blonde to train, as she dragged him by the ear the entire way there.
"This thing is in a couple of weeks, isn't it Reborn?"
"Yes, it is," the raven answered, confirming the suspicion even though he had to glance quickly at the calendar hanging up on the wall. 16th March.
It was currently a Friday, a truly beautiful Friday and he could be with a very gorgeous brunette right now, but no, here he was, explaining the entirety of their trip to his two allies or "bodyguards" for the very same brunette.
"According to Tsuna, and the letter, this is an annual meeting the family have. It's like an age old tradition or whatever but this year is extra special. Apparently. This is because, for the first time, Tsuna's older brother, Giotto, is hosting it."
"Even though he's been the leader of the corporation and the side mafia business for so long, it's only now that he's 25 that he can host these events for real."
"Everyone from Tsuna's family is supposed to be there; aunts, uncles, grandparents, great grandparents, great aunts, great uncles, cousins, distant family, half-brothers from the distant families, step-aunts, step-uncles, everyone is going to present."
"It's basically like a huge family reunion. Presence is compulsory this year because if it wasn't then two-thirds of the people going wouldn't even be there."
"To make things a bit more complicated, some of the closer family members have summons they are bringing, too. We need to make sure that we hold back and stay in the shadows a bit more so that Tsuna doesn't find out."
Fon frowned, the expression seeming unnatural on the man's flawless features. "You will have to tell him eventually, Reborn. The sooner the better," he reminded. Reborn scowled at the other dark haired man.
"I know that. I will, but right now that's not what he needs. Anyway, we're going as his guests and he's already stressing out enough as it is about this and his schoolwork has been getting a little intense."
"The thing is, this thing lasts for three days."
Skull and Fon wondered for a moment. "That won't be a problem. We can stay at Earth for a longer time than normal summons," Skull reasoned.
"I know that, but I've been on Earth for almost a month already and it'll already be two months by the time we have to leave. I may be able to stay practically forever in the Gia plane as long as I am in close proximity with Tsuna, but that doesn't mean that I can still keep my strength for that amount of time."
"I will be severely weakened by the two-month mark. I will still be able to create a portal, but I will not have enough strength to hold it up for very long nor will I have the strength to protect Tsuna and that angers me."
Fon blinked as if the answer to the man's predicament was blatantly obvious. He looked at the raven in an almost mocking way, as if to say "are you stupid?" straight to his face.
"Then create a contract with Tsuna."
"What?!" Reborn spluttered as if the thought was outrageous.
"You have been thinking about it, haven't you? This will give you a great excuse to pursue your romantic intentions with him as well!"
"Are you crazy?! I am not going to use this utterly embarrassing situation for my own sick pleasures!" Reborn yelled.
Skull just sat there awkwardly, not sure of what he should do nor if he should mention the fact that they were both inside a one-sided arguement while he could see a mop of brown hair just outside the front door.
"We both very well know that creating a contract with a human is the most efficient way to boost your strength to its maximum quantity, and it will allow you to keep your strength in the other realm as well! It's ingenious!"
"Can you stop using all those fancy words, Fon? I mean really, we are in front of someone with the mental capacity of a peanut," the raven said, gesturing to the highly offended purplette sitting just next to them.
"Changing the subject now, are we? You cannot disagree that you bear feelings for the human and I must say, you have quite a nice choice in partners Reborn. If he wasn't already claimed by you, why, I would have already snatched him up."
"Hey! You keep Tsuna out of this; I know what kind of freaky crap you're into! I saw those magazines and I had to bleach out my eyes twice after seeing them. Twice! I almost died."
"Stop exaggerating everything. It's not like you don't have your own guilty pleasures, Reborn."
"Yes, well, they don't involve ropes."
"For all you know, Tsuna could be into the same things I am."
"Are you kidding me? He doesn't even know what sex is and he's 21 years old. Do you really think he knows what BDSM is either- wait, that's not the point! The point is, I won't force him into a contract."
"Is that it? I'm pretty sure he wants a contract with you. He'll be more than happy, and Tsuna will be more than understanding of your feelings; just take him out on a date already," Fon concluded.
Reborn deadpanned, looking the man in the eye. "I'm not going to take dating advice from someone who has never even held hands with someone."
Fon pulled a face, while Reborn still held his deadpanned expression. "Guys," Skull interjected, uncomfortably shifting in his place on the carpet.
"Yes?" Reborn asked, quite fed up of everything that has been going on up until this point in time. "What is it, Skull?"
He is literally so done he called me by my name, Skull thought, before deciding that it was wise not to correct the already seething raven. "Tsuna is outside the door."
As soon as the younger male mentioned the brunette's name, Reborn perked up and seemed to be in a much better mood already before he got up and walked to the door to let the boy in.
The brunette had grabbed a lift from Verde and his car which sat dormant in the garage up until that moment, and quite soon Fon and Reborn had understood the "business" he had to catch up on.
It was quite obvious to say that the mood in the household had immediately brightened. That day was a good day.
--={&}=--
The weekend rolled around, and Reborn sat- as usual -across from Tsuna. The boy was sketching out a simple drawing, but the house was tranquil during this time.
The only sound was the grating of the graphite nib against the fine paper the brunette was using. Meanwhile, the raven was in deep thought. Fon was, as per usual, quite right about everything he had said previously.
Although Reborn can stay practically forever in the Gia plane as long as he was near Tsuna, his powers were draining rapidly because of the much lower concentrations of melbourn wafting through the air.
The melbourn which Nerilians have is much stronger than that of a human, as the melbourn which had been automatically weaved inside the air was strong as well. The melbourn which humans own is weaker but was probably on par with melbourn that of a low-class summon.
Although the summons' melbourn is strong, the melbourn already in the air and atmosphere of Earth tries to suck out all of the strong melbourn while the humans' melbourn remains untouched.
Essentially, when you create a pact, the human's melbourn becomes a sort of shield or barrier which protects the summons' melbourn from the properties of the atmosphere on Earth.
Tsuna would understand, wouldn't he? Would he think that this was selfish of Reborn, or would he be more than happy to create a contract with the raven? The more he wondered, the more the raven would question himself and his motives.
Should he really create a contract with Tsuna? Admittedly, there were more pros than there were cons (which were practically nonexistent anyway). On one hand, Reborn would gain more chances to court the brunette and would be able to protect him much better with a contract.
Once a Masuta gains a contract with a summon, they can call the summon to them at any time and any place as long as the Nerilian they are contracted to is still alive and does not have any life-threatening injuries.
Typically, a contract was a profoundly spiritual binding of the souls until the death of one of the signees. The souls would be connected for the full lifespan of the two people, always scarring the soul of the Nerilian as they tend to live for at least double the lifespan of the average human.
However, even though the contract is highly spiritual as was previously mentioned, the binding itself has to be done physically through contact and the recitation of a chant.
The summon and Masuta would both begin the binding process by cutting a (preferably) straight line through their palm, usually travelling through the tip of the life marking near the thumb and ending at the tail end of the head marking on the palm.
These markings were named according to the art of palmistry, which incorporates the reading of natural lines in your hand and their length to read your future essentially.
This is very similar to the reading of tarot cards, where the lines and their lengths are supposed to mean different things. People who practice palmistry have been said to be able to predict how long you will live, how many children you will have if you will be married or have a divorce and how many times, etc.
For those who do not know, the life marking runs from just a couple of centimetres above where your thumb connects to the palm and curves strongly down, some even stretching to the middle-bottom where your tendons show up (some people do not have these tendons).
The head line starts at the start of the knuckles and drops down from there to about the middle of the palm on the other side of the hand.
The primary goal is to slice an only slightly slanted, but straight, line going from one side of the hand to the other by using the tracks as a guideline.
Once the mirror palms had these cuts running across them (if the Masuta cut their right palm, the summon would cut their left), the ritual would virtually begin, but they would have to press the freshly cut wounds against one another.
Some of the pairs preferred to hold each other's hand to keep the wounds as firmly pressed together as possible, working both in favour of the contracting ceremony and of getting minimal blood loss during it.
Others just preferred to press their palms together and do the ritual as fast as possible instead. From this point onwards, things vary from Masuta to Masuta as everyone's melbourn is different in purity, strength, quantity and type.
Generally, if the Masuta and summon had very similar melbourn regarding general power, then the reaction would be quite normal, but still more intense than if the Masuta and summon had different melbourn strengths.
Low levelled pairs would experience a slight gust of wind, along with a tingling sensation running through their arms because of the melbourn transferring from one another through blood.
Middle levelled pairs would experience more of a whistling wind with a possible rush of power which, again, comes from the melbourn in your blood mixing together.
High levelled pairs would experience a high gust of wind, and the power flowing from one another's melbourn would be on the verge of painful because of the sheer amount of it- their ability would be, quite basically doubled.
This was when the physical part of the ritual began. Usually, the Masuta and Nerilian would be sitting Japanese style (legs folded with them sitting on their feet, legs closed tightly).
By this point, the pair would connect their other hands as well and press their foreheads together while they recited the chant; while they described the incantation, depending on the power of their melbourn of course, the wind accumulated from the sheer power of the two melbourn's mixing would form a barrier around the pair.
This would ensure that no one could stop the contracting process at any point after they began chanting the words.
It would also give the pair a sort of privacy while they initiate the binding process. It is very similar to sharing melbourn when the binding process begins.
At the core of it all, contracting is like digging a river between two water sources (the sources being the melbourn reserves of the two signees and the river is the contract). Once the ritual is over, the water from each source floods through the river to the other source.
This dugout river eventually gets larger and larger as the bond between the Masuta and summon gets stronger and stronger.
After considering these variables, one could understand the emotional and mental turmoil a Nerilian would receive if or when their Masuta dies; the bond and the contract are being forcefully ripped apart instantaneously.
Some Nerilians never recover and become insane or even suicidal, even if they did not like their Masuta or didn't have a strong connection with them- their souls are bound, and the bond is tugged and pulled relentlessly during the death.
It is eventually torn, but the strenuous yanking and stretching takes a physical toll on the summon.
It is considered strange as if the Masuta is hurt while still alive then the summon does not feel any of it however if the summon is harmed in any way, their master will feel it almost as intensely as the Nerilian.
Of course, if the human were physically dying, then the summon would feel it but other than that, they would feel virtually nothing at all.
After the chant is finalised, the wind stops, and a word is printed onto your body. The word can be anything, from a simple trigger word to a secret word which binds the summon and summoner emotionally.
A flavour, colour, name, place, time of day, all of those and many more can be printed onto your body as a sign of a contract. The word does stay consistent from Masuta to summon, meaning that the two will have the same word, but they would be placed on different locations on the body.
For example, the Masuta would have the word on their lower back while the summon would have it printed on the bicep. The font would match the word itself so that you could have two words in similar places, but they would have completely different fonts.
As the bond strengthens, the font gains more details and add-ons around it. Sometimes, the word completely disappears and is replaced by a very tattoo-like image or even a simple band of black around the area where the word was placed.
The word can be in a different language as well to give it more symbolism; if the Masuta comes from France then the word could be written in French, if the Masuta and summon both bonded over a specific country or language then the word could very well be written in that language.
It was truly fascinating. The amount of combinations is endless, and it really does give the beautiful sense of uniqueness and originality with each contract you form.
Reborn had been quite confused with his past summoners and their shared words, as they were all entirely blank and blunt, and never looked interesting at all. The add-ons were boring like basic shapes, and the language was almost always the same.
English.
Worst of all was the font; it was always a printed font- it was like the calibri or Arial fonts on the computer screen. Boring, basic and bland.
He just hoped that this time, with Tsuna, it would be significant.
--={&}=--
Side note: I was going to make the Reborn-Fon argument scene at the beginning a little different to the end, where Reborn was going to say "I'm not going to take dating advice from someone who masturbates to tea adverts" but I thought it sounded too racey and left it out.
I'm really sorry if that might have offended some of you (which is why I didn't actually add it), but I was kinda laughing at it for a moment cause I was gonna have Fon be really self-conscious about it.
And like, Fon was gonna be all like "you heard that-" and Reborn was gonna be like "yes" with the most straight face you've ever seen.
Even when I decided not to do that, it was replaying in my head reminding me of how bad of a person I actually am XD
Edited: 22-02-2019