There was a child in his room.
Or, at least, that was what it looked like; being startled awake by the never ceasing screams of his intuition at 4 in the morning sometimes had a way of making Tsuna see things that weren't actually there.
Tsuna blinked, dragging the length of his arm against his aching eyes. He took a deep breath. Then another.
As his arm moved away, his eyes scanned the room, carefully searching for any other discrepancies in his room. His closet door was slightly ajar: a result of not having closed it properly the night prior. There were a few stray articles of clothing scattered around the floor closest to his bed: normal products of his general laziness. Stacks of paper and books were lined almost precariously against the wall: he had no bookshelves so paper towers were the norm in his bedroom. A human-like figure was perched on his desk: he didn't recall bringing home a new child so he supposed it wasn't quite normal.
For a moment he was tempted to dismiss the figure as a playful Lambo who decided to bug him yet again but the insistent press of his intuition convinced him otherwise.
He attempted to make out any discerning characteristics of the intruder. The lighting of his bedroom was indeed dim but even so, he could make out the silhouette of a small human shaped creature backlit by the flickering light of the street lamps just outside his window.
There was a glint in what Tsuna presumed to be the intruder's eyes and he suppressed the urge to heave a sigh. As he held the intruder's gaze in a somewhat impromptu staring contest, he took note of the notebook held in the stranger's hands and the telltale whirr of his laptop that should've been shut down. The person- kid?- had been snooping, he determined.
Tsuna brought up a hand again and dragged it through his messy bangs, fighting off a yawn as he stole a glance at the clock. 4:03 AM. The sad part was that Tsuna wasn't even the slightest bit surprised. A bit put off, yes, but not alarmed. Having spent years of being subjected to rather obnoxious and untimely entrances startling him awake (something he had his entire gaggle of friends to thank for), his surprise at finding guest appearances in inconspicuous places was rather muted.
Understandably, there were still many questions that ran through his mind.
For instance, he had absolutely no idea who his surprise guest was nor how the aforementioned guest got into his room in the first place. Furthermore, he couldn't possibly fathom why his guest had decided to drop in at the literal crack of dawn- if he was going to be robbed couldn't the stranger at least have the decency to try when he wasn't home?
But even so, the surprise wasn't all too shocking and rather than voice any of his actual concerns, his sleep laden mind decided on a simple, "Would you like something to drink?"
Tsuna took a particular satisfaction at the slight jolt of surprise his line wrought from the kid. As he pushed himself up into a sitting position and swung his legs out to the side of the bed, he waited patiently for the answer. A few more moments told him he wasn't getting an answer but he bit back a smile nonetheless and promptly slid off the bed.
There was a bit of shuffling before he made it to the entry of his room. He made a point of ignoring how the kid seemed to tense when he passed by too close, instead turning his head back with the patient and disarming smile he used to use on Lambo and Ipin.
"The kitchen's this way, be careful not to trip on anything on your way out." With that, he turned back around and proceeded out his room. A dull thump of feet meeting the ground told him that his visitor was following.
"Here, I made some tea. I've only got green tea on hand so you'll have to make do with that." His eyes creased with his apologetic smile as he set two mugs down in front of his guest. The kid only eyed the mugs suspiciously and Tsuna had to stuff the urge to sigh again.
Well, with the paranoia of his guest, he would just have to lead by example. He picked up one of the two cups and lifted it to his lips, taking a deep drink before moving away to yawn again. Early mornings really weren't his thing and half of him was tempted to ignore his silent guest and go back to bed.
A movement in front of him shook him from his thoughts and he hid a smile behind the rim of his cup as the kid reached for the other cup of green tea.
"I prefer coffee." Was what the kid muttered after a long moment of contemplation and a tentative sip of his drink. Tsuna didn't bother hiding his smile this time around, brow arching.
"Aren't you a bit young for coffee?" Despite saying it, Tsuna couldn't help but feeling that it wasn't quite true. The kid looked about eight years old but Tsuna was hard pressed to believe a normal eight year old child would be wearing such a finely tailored suit. As if to affirm Tsuna's thoughts, the kid scoffed and didn't reply. He was beginning to get the feeling that his guest wasn't quite the talkative type. Which was fine. He had experience dealing with moody people who only spoke a maximum of five words per sentence.
Another sip of tea was taken. The taste really was quite bland but that was what he got when he resorted to instant convenience store green tea. Oh, the burdens of a middle class civilian life."So what's your name? My name is Tsunayoshi but you can just call me Tsuna. " He threw in another smile to make his lack of harmful intentions clear. It was almost saddening to think about the fact that he was already used to dealing with paranoid intruders with more issues than he could likely count.
"...Renaldo." The kid offered.
A lie, his intuition informed.
Tsuna decided not to comment. There was no point in it anyways, what, with Renaldo's paranoia. It struck him as ironic that the one intruding his house was more paranoid than he was. Then again, Tsuna was used to odd situations and one break-in had nothing on the years of eccentricity he suffered with his friends.
"Well, Renaldo, I'm not entirely sure why you're in my house but going by the fact that you haven't made an attempt on my life yet, I'd say you're not too bad of a kid." The corners of Tsuna's lips tipped just a bit further up at the flash of irritation that crossed Renaldo's face.
Tsuna took the moment to really look his guest over.
There was a fedora perched on Renaldo's head and a yellow pacifier hanging from a silver chain around his neck. To top it off, there was a chameleon nestled on the brim of the fedora and Tsuna had an inkling of a suspicion that there was at least one weapon hidden underneath his jacket. Overall, a rather intriguing character. Tsuna couldn't help but wonder who the kid was looking for to be breaking into homes at 4 AM.
Not that it mattered.
"If you wanted to rob me, my possessions aren't very valuable, sorry. I think I have a few books you could try selling for some cash but you might not make as much money as you want. I can get them if you want them though." Tsuna was taking entirely too much pleasure in imagining the incredulous look on his guest's covered face.
"If you've run away from home and are looking for somewhere to rest, I have a few open rooms you can stay in. You look like a good kid, I don't think you'll murder me in my sleep." He paused, tapping his finger against his chin before shooting another slightly helpless but calm smile. "Or if you're actually here to kill me I'd have to ask you at least let me finish my tea. I don't like wasting food and this cost me at least a good penny."
He was fairly certain Renaldo thought he was at least a little bit insane but his spiel had its intended effect and that's all that really mattered. It was hard to get a read on the stoic child, he took the fact that Renaldo no longer seemed poised to reach into his suit and pull out a weapon of some sorts as a good sign.
"I entered the wrong house." A voice admitted, quiet and to the point.
"Oh." Tsuna said, not quite eloquently. "Well, if you have the address I could help guide you to the place. The streets here are a little hard to navigate. I'm guessing it's somewhere in this neighborhood, yeah?" A single nod was his answer. It was back to the no word answers, it seemed. Tsuna nearly wanted to bash his head in at the nonexistent progress. It was like talking to Hibari but worse. He heaved a mental sigh and patiently waited for the kid to put a slip of paper into his hands.
A minute later, he found himself staring down a slip of paper with a handwritten address on it. The handwriting was neat and orderly and he wondered for a moment if it was the child's own or someone else's.
Several moments later he was hustling out his front door with Renaldo following close after. The first floor of his house was an empty expanse space he used for his dance studio. It'd been remodeled a few months after he moved in. Initially it'd been a simple attempt to remind himself to stay fit and dance but gradually it became his base of dancing instructions.
He explained such when he caught the child glancing around, voice surprisingly more chipper than he would've expected from himself at four in the morning.
Unsurprisingly, Renaldo offered absolutely no comment and Tsuna tried to ignore the burning gaze on his back as he led them out of his house and onto the streets.
"So," He began, another attempt at striking a conversation because being stared at in silence really was getting unnerving (though he had the feeling the kid would've enjoyed seeing him squirm in discomfort.) "Are you visiting a relative or something?"
A moment of deliberation. "Or something." Renaldo agreed a bit flippantly, his expression giving nothing away save for a slightly curl of his lips. The cocky ass was smirking at him- this Tsuna was sure of. He was probably being mocked for something he clearly wasn't getting and that was almost even more unsettling than the kid's hidden gaze.
Silence descended once more and it didn't take long for Tsuna to tense up uncomfortably under Renaldo's heavy stare. It felt like he was burning holes into him and it set him on edge. He almost cried in relief when their destination came into view.
Freedom, salvation, no more creepy staring kids to deal with. Just five steps away, four, three, two.
He cast a sideways glance at the kid and felt his walls cave. The kid was strange and likely had a million secrets up his sleeve but he couldn't have been that bad. He was just a kid, after all, and Tsuna had an incurable soft spot for children. At the very worst, Renaldo couldn't have been worse than Lambo throwing a tantrum.
"This should be the place." Feet came to stop at a black iron gate. Beyond it was a simple house that looked near identical to his own. Tsuna supposed this was where the confusion came into play. Renaldo tipped his hat in silent thanks and a smile warmed onto Tsuna's lips. See, clearly not a bad kid.
Renaldo reached out to grasp the handle of the gate, pausing only when Tsuna started to speak up again.
"If you ever need anything else, feel free to drop by." He tried at a smile, feeling a bit foolish for the trepidation that gripped him. "You know where my place is and how to get in anyways. My little brother loves to drop in unannounced all the time so don't feel like you're intruding." His tone was earnest and through some means he got the words out.
Renaldo turned back, eyeing him cautiously. Ever so slowly, a smirk curled onto his face and a gleam shone in his inky black eyes; it was a sadistically arrogant look that matched the quiet child a surprising amount and the implications of the thought alone sent shivers down Tsuna's spine.
"I'll be sure to take you up on that." The gate swung open and Renaldo disappeared into its metal confines. The sky was still dark as ever and the flickering street lights only added to his trepidation.
He was probably going to regret making his offer later.