A/N: This story follows canon until the end of both Anime. It may include aspects of the manga but mostly it will follow the anime versions of the stories. This means that Tsuna and co. met Giotto and his guardians during their tests etc.

For KHR, this would take place somewhere between the crew returning from the future and meeting the Shimon family. As for Nurarihyon, I'd say this would happen a few months or so after Seimei returns to hell and Rikuo accepts his position as the third head.

Enjoy!

Prologue

The boy slumped against the wall with a grunt of pain, his breath coming out in short, stuttered gasps. He brought a shaking hand to a cut on his head, wincing at the sight of trickling blood, his blood. His short, brunette hair was matted and his wide, brown eyes clouded with pure terror.

The things chasing him were shrouded in the night, unseen beyond the orange spotlight circles of the street lamps. Whenever they happened into these pin-points of light, the boy could only barely make out their silhouetted figures. After all, they moved far too fast for his eyes.

A dull thumping sound alerted him to his right and the boy felt a cold, uninhibited fear creep up his spine. He turned wide, panicked eyes in the opposite direction, getting ready to run, but before he had a chance to move, a figure blocked his path. A death-cold hand slammed him up against the wall, clamped tightly around his neck and elicited a choke of surprise. From such close proximity, the boy saw his pursuer fully for the first time. Terrifying was not nearly enough to describe this creature. Its hand was wrinkled and dry, like a long-decayed corpse, its eyes an empty white, and its face so twisted the boy couldn't bear any more than the briefest of glances.

The boy began to weep, his sobs growing increasingly hysterical as he struggled to free himself.

"No please! H-help!" He attempted to scream, but all that came out were whispered, breathless words.

"Show me your power." The thing rasped, its foul breath wafting into the boy's face and making him flinch away.

"I h-have no idea what you're talking about." He whimpered and the hand tightened around his neck, making him sob.

"Don't attempt to fool me." The creature slammed the boy into the wall roughly. "Show it to me! Show me your flame!"

The boy was terrified, attempting to shake his head in the creature's grasp to indicate his ignorance on the matter. But very soon, his movements slowed, head lolling as he finally couldn't bear the lack of air any longer. He fell limp and the creature sneered in disgust, tossing him aside as if he were a dirty dish rag.

"He's not who we're looking for," growled the creature as two others like it emerged from the darkness. "That's the fifth tonight. This is going nowhere."

"He is elusive." the second creature stated in the same, rasping voice as the first.

"This one is no longer needed then?" said the third, nudging the boy's body with a cloaked foot, "May I?"

"Do as you will but make it quick, we have a job to do." hissed the first before it and the second disappeared into the night.

The third looked down at the unconscious boy and licked its reptilian lips with a long, blue tongue. Then, it descended upon him, white, ivory fangs bared and wearing a smile of mad satisfaction.