Author's Notes: Hello everyone and welcome to my first multi-chapter fic, Of Guardians and Contracts. The first thing you need to know is that this takes place in a magic school/ magic world AU, which means that Tsuna and friends currently live in a world where magic and spells are common everyday events. I hope you enjoy this AU!

And if it isn't clear, 'italics' = Tsuna's thoughts

Summary: Magic AU. No one would ever guess that 'Dame-Tsuna' is actually the heir to the Vongola Magic Council, the strongest magic family in the world. But when unrest grows in the magic world, Tsuna will need all the help he can get. As Reborn says, it's about time that Tsuna started finding his own Guardians to contract with anyways.

Disclaimer: All the lovely characters in Katekyo Hitman Reborn! belong to the amazing Akira Amano. I do not own or claim to own anything.

Chapter 1: The Fundamentals of Magic

It was a lovely autumn's day—multi-colored leaves were drifting gracefully down and the air had a fresh, crisp scent to it. A lone brunet stood in the middle of the school courtyard, drinking in the sight of the sky with a wistful gaze. He glanced at the large clock that hung prominently at the front of the school as it prepared to strike 3:00. The brunet sighed. "Here we go..." he murmured softly to himself. As he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he mentally counted down. 3... 2... 1...

A piercing bell echoed through the school and a crowd of students quickly rushed out the doors as the long school day finally came to an end. Several of the students caught sight of the brunet and sauntered over to him, identical sneers etched across their faces.

The brunet tensed up noticeably when he was suddenly surrounded by the much larger students. His honey brown eyes widened with fear as one student reached out and shoved him harshly to the ground.

"Got kicked out of class again, Dame-Tsuna?" One of the students mocked.

"He probably failed another test again," another student scoffed. "This is your what, third failed test of this week? That's a new record even for you, Dame-Tsuna!" This was punctuated with a kick.

"How the hell someone like you got into the Summoner class is beyond me," yet another one jeered. "A loser like you will never be able to find any Guardians to contract with! You might as well drop out of this school right now!"

Sprawled on the ground, Tsuna whimpered as he waited for the cruel words and abuse to stop. When the bullies finally had their fill of fun, they walked off laughing. Tsuna gingerly picked himself up from the ground and patted himself down, accessing the extent of the damage. Multiple bruises, a severely sore rib, and an open cut on his cheek. But it was nothing Reborn couldn't fix up in a jiffy. And with that, he started his trip home.

"I'm home!" Tsuna called out as he stepped into the kitchen. He frowned when no one replied. 'Kaa-san probably went out to the market,' Tsuna mused. 'And as for Reborn...' Tsuna's intuition suddenly flared and he immediately leapt back to dodge the incoming bullets. He continued to expertly dodge the onslaught of bullets with a series of handsprings and backflips. 'Honing bullets,' Tsuna realized when the bullets he dodged earlier continued their relentless pursuit of him.

Shifting tactics, Tsuna closed his eyes in brief concentration. Black leather gloves suddenly materialized on his hands and a familiar warmth enveloped them. When Tsuna reopened his eyes, his formerly brown eyes were now a bright orange color, matching the flames on his hands and the flickering flame on this forehead. Placing his hands together in a diamond formation, Tsuna called out the name of the spell: "Zero Point Breakthrough: First Edition!" An intricate orange magic circle immediately appeared beneath him, expanding as the spell was cast. The honing bullets instantly froze into ice as they made contact with his flames and dropped to the ground, harmless.

The magic circle shrunk and faded out after the spell took effect. Tsuna sighed in relief and let the flames fizzle out of his hands. His brief moment of relief was cut short as his intuition flared up once again. Tsuna barely had enough time to raise his arms in front of his face before a small foot made contact with them.

"Ah!" Tsuna cried as he stumbled several steps backward from the force of the kick. "Mou, Reborn! That actually hurt!" He pouted as rubbed his sore arms.

The suited infant smirked from his spot on the kitchen counter. "Hm, you pass this time, Dame-Tsuna, but you reacted too slowly to that last kick. Never let your guard down even when you think you have won."

Tsuna was still pouting as he asked, "Reborn, didn't we agree that I was supposed to keep up the 'dame' act only in school? So why do you still call me that?"

"Because it's fun to tease you." Came Reborn's immediate reply.

"Well, I'm glad to be able to serve as your source of entertainment." Tsuna snarked back with a glare. The effect of the glare was lost though as it was paired up with his still pouting face. Reborn had to suppress a smirk—sometimes, his student was too cute for his own good.

"Let's see those injuries now." Reborn declared as he jumped onto his student's lap, ignoring Tsuna's protest when he landed. A small frown marred the hitman's face when he caught sight of the open cut on Tsuna's cheek. "So the bullying is getting worse?"

Tsuna gave a small smile at his tutor's concern. "It's okay, Reborn, I'm fine. This is nothing compared to the training you put me through." Tsuna laughed wryly before directing a warm smile at the hitman. "Besides, I can always count on you to heal me back up."

"It still doesn't mean they can do whatever they please to my student." Reborn declared. "Maybe I should teach them a lesson under the excuse of it being an educational disciplining..." He smirked as thoughts of torture flew through his mind. He'll teach those lowlifes who dared to lay a hand on his student what the definition of pain really was.

"No, Reborn you can't just go around abusing your position as an Arcobaleno like that!" Tsuna immediately protested. "I appreciate the concern, but remember, you said that the Arcobaleno Affiliation is meant to protect the secrets of the school, not to go around disciplining students whenever they please."

"Hmph, we'll see about that. Now stay still, Tsuna." The pacifier than hung from Reborn's chest suddenly glowed a bright yellow and a golden-yellow magic circle appeared as the hitman activated his magic. Cloaking his hands with glowing yellow flames, Reborn pressed them onto Tsuna's open cut with a surprisingly gentle touch. The hitman watched, satisfied, as the cut quickly melded together, leaving no physical sign of the previous injury.

Tsuna sighed happily as he ran his fingers over his now smooth cheek. "Thanks, Reborn. Your healing magic is the best."

Reborn smirked. "Of course. I know that you have more injuries on the rest of your body, Tsuna." He cocked his gun threateningly as his onyx black eyes glimmered with sadistic amusement. "So strip."

"EH?"

One healing session later, Reborn was seen lounging at a spot on Tsuna's desk, calmly sipping at his cup of espresso, while Tsuna was panting lightly away at the exercise bicycle that Reborn had probably summoned into his room.

Reborn took another sip of the espresso (Tsuna was getting better at brewing it, he noted with not a small amount of satisfaction) and began his lecture. "As you know, the Vongola Institute of Magic that you attend is the most prestigious magic school found on this side of the globe. The school is privately funded by the Vongola Magic Council, the group that oversees all the activities of the magic world. Under the Council's orders, the Vongola Institute is currently under the guise of 'Namimori High School' to those who are not aware of magic." Summoning a little bit of his magic, Reborn transformed his pet chameleon into a gun and pointed it at his student. "Time for a pop quiz, Tsuna: explain the source of all magic."

Tsuna suppressed a sigh at the sight of the gun and recited dutifully. "Everyone's source of magic stems from their Dying Will Flames. The different flames include: Storm, Sky, Sun, Lightning, Rain, Mist, and Cloud and each flame has its own magical attributes. Just as your source of magic comes from your Sun Dying Will Flames, mine is from my Sky flames." Tsuna sighed as he continued to ride away at the exercise bicycle. "Reborn, you've drilled this into my brain so many times that I can recite this in my sleep. Why are we still going over this?"

"It never hurts to review the basics, Tsuna." Reborn replied, raising his gun in a manner that left no room for discussion. "Besides, I have a point that I'm leading into." Reborn took another sip of espresso before continuing. "As I was saying, the Vongola Institute of Magic is divided into two sections: the Summoner class that you belong to and the Guardian class. As you have learned, Guardians can possess either Storm, Sun, Lightning, Rain, Mist, or Cloud flames, or a combination of these flames."

"Summoners, on the other hand, are exceptional and few in number." Here Reborn paused and looked at Tsuna. "They are the only ones who possess the rare Sky flames and thus they are the only people who have the unique ability to form a contract with various Guardians and summon them to their aid."

Tsuna, who had fallen into a state of half slumber at the familiar lecture, gave a start at Reborn's next words. "Nono thinks that it is time for you to contract your own Guardians, Tsuna."

"Wait. What?" Tsuna jumped off the exercise machine and sat down in front of Reborn. "This early? But I thought that I was supposed to finish my training first."

"Nono and I both feel that you have learned enough for now. And as the heir to the Vongola Magic Council, it is crucial that you gather Guardians to protect you, Vongola Decimo."

Tsuna nodded, caramel eyes serious. "I understand, Reborn. But that's not the only reason why Nono suddenly wants me to find Guardians to contract with right, Reborn? There's something else that you're not telling me."

Reborn smiled. His student had learned well. "I see that your intuition is as sharp as ever." Tsuna gave a pleased smile at the compliment. "You should have heard about the growing threat of the Disdetta Family, right?" At Tsuna's nod, Reborn continued. "Reports from classified sources indicate that they have been rather active as of late. Tsuna, the Disdetta is wiping out families—even supposedly high-ranking magic families—at an alarming rate."

Tsuna's eyes widened at the implications of Reborn's words. "Do you mean to say that even the Vongola might be at threat?"

"As you know, there are a lot of branch families within the Vongola. It's hard not to say that the Disdetta Family won't target them. The Vindice is currently looking into this case, but the safety of the next generation of the Vongola Magic Council can not be overlooked. Your safety is of the utmost priority, Tsuna."

"I'm aware of that, Reborn." Tsuna's eyes flashed with firm resolution. "But I will not compromise the safety of any member of the Vongola Family in order to ensure my own."

Reborn looked at his student with something akin to approval. "Then you'll just have to make sure to protect everyone in the family." The tutor announced matter-of-factly. "And to do that, you'll need to have Guardians. Guardians that I want you to start looking for immediately."

Tsuna grew slightly apprehensive at the sadistic gleam in Reborn's eyes. 'If I managed to survive Reborn's training for all these years, finding and contracting Guardians shouldn't be too difficult...right?' He tried to reassure himself.

"Oh, and remember, Tsuna," Reborn suddenly chose to add. "I'll be here to watch your progress every step of the way." He smirked sadistically. Tsuna gulped as his intuition suddenly gave off warning bells. 'On second thought, this will be very difficult...and probably quite painful as well.' Tsuna didn't liking where this was going. Not one bit.

Author's Notes: This beginning chapter doesn't have a lot of action since it's more focused on establishing the explanations of magic and this world. And speaking of explanations, I hope I explained the whole concept of magic clearly. There will be more information given in the later chapters, but if you currently have any questions, feel free to ask them in a review or by sending me a PM.

And if any of you are wondering, this AU's Tsuna is currently 17 years old and in his second to last year of school.

Please let me know what you think of this AU by leaving a review. I would love to hear any opinions or comments you may have!

-Bird of Dreams