Summary: Tsuna wished for a simple life. Not one involving magic, towers, hunters and certainly not a powerful group of demons. Arcobaleno27

Unbeta'ed

The Final Tower

Chapter 1

The bell rings and Tsuna follows.

It is usually unheard of for universities to have a central belltower signifying the start of the day, but he will be lying to himself if he said this place personifies the ordinary. The last time Tsuna saw the tower was during the open day for aspiring students, 'aspiring' being the keyword. There are no students who come to United Front University open days and have it placed as their second option for studying. It will always be first and just by strolling through the maze of corridors he could understand why. The walls thrum alive with magic, interweaving with the rest of the university. This makes U.F incredibly well known for one course in particular. However, it is not Tsuna's chosen subject and he's glad for it. He is a part of the U.F School of Media, Art and Design – one of the four schools U.F is split into – and its campus is where he is heading.

Today is induction day for first-year students and Tsuna cannot help but feel waves of excitement stirring within his chest as he glances down at the university map. His school campus is about a seven-minute stroll from his current position in the west courtyard. Here Tsuna observes other students sitting on the various seats sprinkled around the yard. He presumes some are waiting for their induction to start as there are different times to accommodate the numerous students enrolled. Tsuna's induction begins at nine o'clock but the mixture of a sleepless night and nerves had him arrive earlier than needed. During that time, he had his ID photo and card sorted out so he will not have to worry about getting it later. Tsuna imagines the large lines of students sorting out their IDs will be a tedious experience for those who arrive late.

Tsuna slides out his phone from his jean pocket and checks the time. He has a little more than thirty minutes before the welcome talk begins and contemplates whether he should carry on towards the campus. He ultimately decides against it and sits on one of the empty seats close to him. The prospect of being the first one there and having to wait for the other students to arrive makes Tsuna feel a little queasy. He would rather arrive at the same time as everyone else.

Turning his attention back to the courtyard, Tsuna notices a number of students already sat in groups of three or above. They are all either laughing or chatting in the same thrilled tone. He wonders if the people within the groups already know each other from their days in high school. The way they interact with each other makes him presume they do. Tsuna cannot help but feel a little envious at this. If he had not taken the last two years off, he would have joined U.F along with a few of his own high school classmates. Nevertheless, if he had done so he would have been forced to drop out because of insufficient tuition funds. So, he spent the last few years saving as much as he could to at least pay for two years and it was just a month ago he received the news of his awarded scholarship.

Checking his phone again, Tsuna sighs when he notices only five minutes have passed. Maybe I should take some pictures? He thought as he takes in the sights of centuries-old buildings. He cannot remember the exact date the university was built, but the buildings look as new as the day they were created. That's magic for you.

"Did you hear? Riku went missing," a black-haired girl whispers in a soft tone. She is wearing one of the university ambassador T-shirts, signalling her role to help first-year students.

"What?" says the brunette beside her with the same shirt. They were standing close to Tsuna so he could hear every word. "I thought he had run away again."

The black-haired girl shakes her head. "That's what his parents thought. This would be the fifth time he has run away from home, but he always goes back. And that's the thing. It's been two weeks. No one has heard from him. It was only yesterday that the university was notified."

"You think he is like the others?"

"Maybe? I don't know. This would make him the third person to go missing from that course in a month."

The brunette shivers and wraps her arms around herself, the thin T-shirt doing nothing to protect her from the cool breeze. "Is the university doing anything?"

"No, I heard that the chairman gave specific orders to not get involved. It's not the police the parents are giving the job to as well. It's the Hunters Association."

The brunette gasps aloud. "They think towers are involved?"

The black-haired girl hisses out a hush. But before she can say any more, she notices Tsuna staring their way with what must have been a surprised expression upon his face. She quickly turns back to the girl and grabs her arm. "Let's go," she says. "The others are probably waiting for us."

And with that, they walk away with the brunette being practically dragged along.

Tsuna tries to take in the information he has just learnt. The Hunters Association? Did a missing person case really involve a tower? From the sound of the girls speaking, the person was most likely involved in the Hunters course as the majority of students here were. A course which began hundreds of years ago because of the appearance of towers. It's what this university is known for. Tsuna recalls the first time his mother had told him about them. The towers. He had been eight when he saw the headline 'Tower Accident' on the news in which a civilian had entered one. Tsuna had pointed to the screen and asked her about it.

"There are doors," she had said while brushing her hand through his hair. "Doors all over the world which open with individual keys. With these keys, you can enter a tower filled with unimaginable horrors. But at the top, there is a treasure great enough for hunters to put their lives on the line for it."

Since then, Tsuna has wondered about the type of treasures which could be found within a tower. Civilians like Tsuna don't get to know as it is a hunter's secret. The only people that can ask a hunter what treasures they found is the Hunters Association. The rest of the world don't get to know, but whatever it is, it must be valuable as hunters can become millionaires after entering just one tower. That is the allure of the Hunter course in U.F. – people believing it to be a get rich quick scheme and the results will be them making millions. Although, lots of hunters-in-training leave the course before the first year ends because of how physically, mentally and emotionally demanding it is. Not to mention one can actually die from entering a tower.

Turning his thoughts back to the missing boy, Tsuna can only look down at his hands in disbelief. There is no way the boy could have entered a tower without the university's permission. Even then, the boy would have had to have gone with a group of other hunters-in-training. Unless… the boy had a key of his own. The university forbids student hunters from using keys they find and rewards them when they hand them over. Maybe the boy chose not to hand it over? But why would the boy do that? It would be instant expulsion from the university if they found out. This is not what bothers Tsuna the most. It's the fact that the boy is the third person to go missing from the course and the university is keeping it quiet. Tsuna understands that the university most likely does not want to create a commotion as it would be bad for their image.

So Tsuna decides to stay quiet about what he has just heard. He had chosen this university because of its well-known photography course and nothing else. Tsuna does not wish to become a hunter or be a part of anything which involves one. All he wants is a simple university life. One in which the only stresses he has is from coursework and nothing else. Tsuna checks the time once more. 08:45 AM shows itself on the digital screen, but he does not care.

He stands up and begins his walk to the induction hall.

Author's note:

Hello!

I thought I would post a short opening to a story I was planning over a year ago to see what type of reactions it would get. I am most likely going to carry on though.

I hope you guys enjoyed this. And please review. I love reading people's opinions and critiques.