After dealing with Varia's special brand of insanity for several months, all of Caeruleus agreed that a break was not only earned, but needed. So when Shoichi heard of a large science convention open to all in a nearby town, he didn't hesitate to ask his comrades if they wanted to accompany him.
Truth be told, most of them were not all that keen on science. Hayato had a scholarly side under all his brashness and Byakuran was a font of weird scraps of knowledge, but all the others were either uninterested or a downright hazard in a lab.
But it was a good excuse to go out in a peaceful environment. Scientists tended to be the quiet type, not the violent, bloodthirsty type they had been surrounded with in the Varia mansion. So what could go wrong?
In hindsight, Tsuna realized he should have expected everything that happened. When had life gone according to plan when he wanted some peace and quiet before?
In the end, Shoichi dragged Tsuna along, and invited Hayato and Byakuran to the convention. Technology was still a sensitive subject for Ken, Chikusa and Mukuro, and they wanted no reminder of their time with the Estraneo. Kyoya had shot down the invitation with a grunt as soon as it had been offered and both Lambo and I-pin were not interested and a bit too young to attend. The four who were going were already borderline, with the youngest -Tsuna- only having recently celebrated his 12th birthday.
The bus trip to the convention went without a hitch. Byakuran was taking too much enjoyment from aggravating Hayato's volatile mood, but the silveret managed to contain his temper. He only threatened to blow the older teen up three times, kept his swears and insults low enough not to be overheard and didn't even pull out the explosives he was sure to have hidden on his person. Tsuna was unduly proud.
The convention itself was not what he had expected. Since it was open to anyone, he had not thought it would be so high-tech and elitist. The fours teens were surrounded by adults, most of them professional scientists. There were a few strollers like them, but they were clearly not in their environment and they gazed upon the inventions and technology with the same confused awe and lack of understanding as Tsuna.
Shoichi looked like he had died and ascended to geek heaven.
It took the combined persuasive force of Tsuna, Hayato and Byakuran to drag the Sun towards the information point rather than rush straight to the displays. The convention was very large, with many stands, even more expositions and several conferences. They would need the leaflets to know the exact schedule and not miss any of the main events Shoichi had wanted to see.
If the redhead's enthusiasm had dwindled slightly at hearing that he couldn't attend all the happenings because some took place at the same time, it skyrocketed when he read through the list of lecturers.
"Oh my god, I can't believe it!" He squealed. Tsuna was vividly reminded of rabid fangirls he had seen on TV. It was a weird thought. "Verde is here!"
Byakuran raised an eyebrow his face contorting into an indecipherable expression, before excusing himself and disappearing into the crowd. He was bent in half, like he had an especially virulent stomachache, but Tsuna got the distinct impression he was actually bent with laughter. Hayato looked thunderstruck, but he quickly reached to the nearby stands to take his own leaflet. When he looked back up, the silveret looked very much like an excited puppy. You could almost see a tail wagging behind him.
"Who is this 'Verde', exactly?" Asked the brunet. The man had to be very impressive for the two science geeks to react like that.
