Tsuna wandered absently around the shop, hungry, but unsure of exactly what it was he wanted. He browsed the isles slowly, glad to be able to take his time with no Gokudera babbling in his ear. As he rounded the corner of the isle, he had to swerve quickly to avoid walking into the pushchair parked there. Tsuna wobbled precariously before a strong hand grabbed his wrist and settled him.
"Are you alright" the owner of the hand asked, sounding concerned, "sorry, I should have been more careful where I parked this thing." A nervous laugh.
The voice sounded strange, slight off, the words running into each other slightly as though the mouth wasn't quite in control of what it was saying. Having regained his balance, Tsuna looked up with a nervous smile, ready to apologise for causing trouble again. But as he looked up the words caught in his mouth. Tsuna's eyes were met with the greenest pair of eyes he had ever seen, large and round. Tsuna gaped at the man for a few moments before wrenching his wrist out of the stranger's hand. The man looked embarrassed when he realised he had been holding the boy's wrist all this time.
"I…uh, sor-"
"Sorry, very sorry," Tsuna babbled out, eyes wide and fearful. Taking one last look at the strange foreign man in front of him, Tsuna turned and walked as out of the shop as fast as he could without making it seems as though he was running. Once he was out of the shop however, Tsuna began to run in earnest. He ran blindly until he reached his front gate, his breath coming out in wheezes and puffs. Tsuna bent over double, trying to draw in breath, as he shut the gate behind him.
He needed to find Reborn, Tsuna decided. He didn't know why but something told him that man was dangerous. This, coupled with the fact that the only time Tsuna had ever seen foreigners in Namimori was when they were with the Mafia, meant trouble for Tsuna. And trouble was the last thing Tsuna wanted; he already had a baby hitman living with him!
Tsuna let himself into the house and was surprised by the silence, it seemed as though no one was home. However, Tsuna wasn't that easily fooled, this was just the sort of thing Reborn liked to do – lull him into a false sense of security in order to jump out and get him when his back was turned. After searching the house and concluding that there really wasn't anybody there, Tsuna decided not to question his fortune and instead enjoy the peace and quite with a cup of tea.
As he sat down, cradling the hot cup in his hands, Tsuna thought back to the man in the shop. Now that the initial surprise was over, Tsuna felt a little stupid for being so afraid. The man had seemed perfectly nice, he'd helped Tsuna when he nearly fell and he'd apologised when it hadn't even been his fault. The man had even had a baby with him! What kind of mafia guy walked around with a baby in a pram? Tsuna decided this mafia thing really was getting to him; it was making him paranoid, though it was no surprise really. Tsuna felt quite bad, he'd really been quite rude to the poor man. He was probably just a tourist passing through (although what a tourist would be visiting Namimori for, Tsuna couldn't say). Tsuna sighed as he gulped down the hot drink. Still, best to tell Reborn. Just in case.
As though he knew what Tsuna had been thinking, Reborn appeared at that minute, giving Tsuna a sharp whack around the head. Tsuna squealed in surprise before grabbing his aching head, groaning. He was just glad he had put his cup down beforehand or he'd have burns to deal with as well.
"Stupid Tsuna!" His tutor admonished, "You should pay more attention to your surroundings." The baby jumped up onto the table, peering into Tsuna's face before looking away in disgust. "Get me a snack, Tsuna!" He demanded.
Not wanting to, but wanting to be hit again even less, Tsuna went to the cupboard to see what he could find the evil baby to eat.
"Actually, Reborn," he said, head in the cupboard, "I wanted to ask you something." He pulled out a packed of biscuits, "chocolate chip?" he looked at Reborn to see if that was acceptable to the baby or if he'd receive another bruise in thanks.
The baby seemed to consider it for a moment before nodding.
"Ask what, Dame-Tsuna?" he asked a few minutes later, wiping crumbs from the corner of his mouth. Tsuna had to admit that if he didn't know how terrible this little thing could be, he would have found Reborn quite adorable.
"Um, well…it's just, I wanted to ask," Tsuna stumbled over his words, truly feeling a bit stupid about his earlier reaction to the man.
The baby reached across and smacked his over the head again. "Speak up Dame-Tsuna," he glared at the boy, as though he had personally offended him.
"Well I was just wondering if any more mafia people were supposed to be coming? Only I saw this foreigner in the shop today, and the only time I've seen foreigners in Namimori before was when they were with the mafia. And they were usually here to kill me, only this guy didn't try to kill me, he just helped me when I nearly fell, and he seemed quite nice really, and h-"
Reborn cut Tsuna off here with another whack to the head. Tsuna was sure he was going to suffer some sort of brain damage soon. "Idiot! Stop rambling, and explain it to me properly!" Reborn gave Tsuna a look that promised blood if he didn't recount his story perfectly.
It didn't take Tsuna long to recount the full story. It wasn't much of a story at all if truth be told. But Reborn did look interested, though barely.
"Describe the man to me," he ordered.
"Um, his eyes were green, really green. I didn't know eyes could be that green," the look on Reborn's face told Tsuna that he really should move on from the eyes. "He had very pale skin; and, um," Tsuna strained trying to picture the man again. "He was about average height or maybe a little short for a foreigner. And he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Oh, and he had glasses, and his hair was black, to about his shoulders and quite messy. The baby's hair wasn't black though, it was more like the colour of sand." at the mention of a baby Reborn seemed show a little interest.
"There was a baby?" he inquired, an unreadable look in his eyes, not that that was an unusual occurrence for Reborn.
"Yes," Tsuna nodded his head, "it was in a pushchair, which was what I tripped over. It was only a little baby, and I only really saw its hair, not much else…" Tsuna trailed off unsure of why Reborn seemed so interested in a baby. "That's why I think I was overreacting. I mean what kind of Mafioso would bring along a baby?" He laughed slightly, uncomfortable with the way Reborn's eyes narrows.
"Go and study for you maths test, Dame-Tsuna" Reborn ordered, standing and wiping crumbs from his trousers, "I shall investigate."
Before Tsuna could blink, Reborn was gone. It really did baffle Tsuna how the baby managed to do that. He was even more curious about why Reborn had seemed interested in the baby.
Maybe he wanted a new playmate? Tsuna giggled to himself, softly at the thought.
Harry wandered peacefully along the path, humming lightly to himself. Namimori was really quite a nice town, very peaceful. The distant rumble of traffic was almost entirely covered by the sound of the singing birds, and the soft whirr of the pram on the pavement. Teddy gurgled happily.
Harry smiled happily to himself. This seemed like a place they could really settle down in, at least for a while. Things had been too hectic back in England: the press all over him wherever he went, people constantly asking for autographs. Harry had tried moving somewhere a little closer to home at first, but it seemed his fame had spread. He'd been accosted in numerous different places across Europe, before eventually deciding to move a little further a field. Sure, it was a little more difficult to fit in (or a lot more) and there were a whole different set of rules for social behaviours, not to mention the language (thank Merlin for Auror regulation translation equipment he'd managed to get his hands on). But it was nice really, refreshing to be somewhere so completely different. And anyway, it wasn't the first time he'd had to deal with such a complete culture shock. Harry was sure nothing Namimori could throw at him could possibly compare to finding out Dragons and Unicorns existed!
Teddy gurgled loudly, clamouring from some sort of attention from the daydreamer pushing his pram. Harry smiled at the baby, who would be one in barely a month. Harry couldn't quite believe time had flown by so quickly. Smiling down at the baby, Harry sighed happily, he couldn't quite remember the last time he'd felt so peaceful.
Spotting a bench up ahead, Harry decided to have a sit down while the sun was still out. It wasn't like he had much else to do really, other than take care of Teddy. Harry turned the pram to face him and amused the little boy with funny faces. Thinking about it reminded him of the faces the boy who'd walked into Teddy's pram earlier had pulled. The poor boy had looked terrified. A few people had acted that way to him in the past couple of days since he'd moved here. It was probably his eyes, Harry though, they were very green. Somehow they had seemed greener than ever lately; Harry thought that no longer constantly fearing for his life seemed to have lifted a shadow.
Deciding they'd had enough of a rest, Harry stood again, telling Teddy, who was starting to grumble a little, that they'd be home soon and then the boy could have a snack.
As he turned the corner, Harry was met with a very strange sight. A small child, a baby even, was stood on the wall, wearing a suit and the most adorable little fedora Harry had ever seen. At the site Harry couldn't help but break into a smile. The child just stared at him.
Harry looked around, there didn't seem to be anyone else in the vicinity. The child looked awfully young to be out on his own, maybe he was lost?
Pushing the pram up to the baby, Harry smiled gently, doing his best not to frighten him. "Hello kid, what are you doing out here on your own? Are you lost?" Harry tried to keep his voice as reassuring as possible, hoping not to scare this child as much as he had the last one he'd met.
Reborn didn't say a word, just remained where he was, looking at the young man and the baby in the pram. There was nothing overly suspicious about them, and the baby seemed quite normal. A young father and his son most probably.
But there was something that pulled at Reborn's consciousness, a strange feeling about the young man in front of him. Nothing dangerous per say, but there was definite power there. It wasn't a power Reborn could say he was familiar with, yet the strange feeling of something pulling at his mind, as though a forgotten memory was trying to make itself known, would not leave. Reborn narrowed his eyes slightly, watching the young man standing before him hesitantly, clearly trying not to alarm what he thought to be a small, lost child.
This was not something Reborn could allow to go unchecked. He would need to find out who this man was, and even more so where this feeling of having forgot something quite important had come from.
Reborn took a step towards the young man.
"Ciaossu."
